FULL TIME: Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester City
And that’s that! Leicester go top thanks to the point they’ve earned. They’d likely have claimed all three had Mahrez not missed his first-half penalty kick, but Villa deserved a draw on the balance of play: they were tenacious in that second half, and Rudy Gestede’s goal means they’re now just six points behind 19th placed Sunderland, and nine from safety. Leicester can continue hoping for the title; Villa can keep hoping for a great escape.
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90 min +5: Villa replace Ayew with Sinclair.
90 min +4: The free kick doesn’t beat the first man. The disappointment around Villa Park is palpable.
90 min +3: Kozak burns down the right wing, and earns a cheap free kick off a clumsy Fuchs. A chance for Villa to load the box.
90 min +2: Ayew drives at Leicester down the inside-right channel, but a heavy touch sees him lose control, and the ball rolls harmlessly through to Schmeichel.
90 min +1: Drinkwater sends Vardy tearing down the inside-left channel with a stunning sliderule pass. Vardy enters the box but a loose touch takes him a little wide, and he hoicks a wild shot over the bar from a tight-ish angle.
90 min: There will be five added minutes.
89 min: Leicester press Villa back, but a loose Kante pass allows the home team to break upfield. They’re three on two, with Gestede in acres on the left, screaming for a pass from Ayew. But it never comes. Ayew and Veretout fiddle about down the right, and the move fizzles out.
87 min: A long ball down the middle. Gestede, buoyed by his goal, rises to flick on for Kozak, who should make Schmeichel work from 12 yards, but doesn’t get anything behind the shot. This is pleasingly hectic.
86 min: The former Villa star Albrighton comes on for the former Birmingham player Gray. Imagine how that swap went down.
84 min: Vardy pushes Bacuna in the back. Bacuna considers taking Vardy by the throat. The pair lock horns. For a second, it looks like kicking off properly, but it all calms down quickly enough, and it’s just a yellow each.
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82 min: This is brilliant end-to-end madness. Both teams are going for the three points. Albrighton, in the centre circle facing backwards, swivels and hoicks a superb ball down the middle. Vardy nearly breaks clear on goal. Okore snuffs out the danger. Down the other end, Gestede very nearly breaks clear down the left, but doesn’t have the pace to keep the move going.
79 min: Leicester have been quiet as an attacking force of late. The equaliser has spurred them into action again. A Drinkwater cross from the left is nearly shanked into his own goal by the hapless Lescott. The resulting corner comes to nothing. An addendum to Mark Regan’s anorakilly-correct definition of a Midlands derby, according to Justin Kavanagh: “DH Lawrence would probably define it as: if you can’t can’t imagine the two managers in a naked wrestling match for the three points, it’s not a derby’.” Getting hot in here.
77 min: Huth is booked for arguing the toss about the goal. And soon after, he’s crumping his arm into poor Kozak’s coupon again. He’ll need to watch out. Villa Park is bouncing. Belief is back on the menu.
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GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester City (Gestede 75)
What a strange goal this is. Huth and Gestede tussle for the ball on the right-hand edge of the Leicester D. Huth boots the ball into Gestede’s trouser arrangement. He takes the hit and bundles the ball past the defender to take a stride into the box. He shoots straight at goal. The ball takes a break off the arm of the lunging Morgan, and flies into the top right. All the lucky bounces went with Villa there, but they’ve deserved something for all their second-half pressure!
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74 min: A couple of games of head tennis in the Leicester box. Gestede causes more bother during the first. The second ends with Fuchs guiding an absurdly confident header back to Schmeichel, with Ayew and Gestede sniffing around. Schmeichel, having gathered the ball under intense pressure, gives his team-mate a rare old rollicking. “Newcastle-Middlesborough is referred to as a derby (47 mins) and that’s forty-odd miles. Also, you can’t be an anorak in this weather: you need an overcoat and a furry hat. Overcoatilly, Julian Le Saux.”
73 min: Corner for Villa on the right. Gestede tries to bring the ball down on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He claims a penalty, as the nearby Drinkwater was waving his arms about. Had the ball hit either of those arms, he’d have had a point.
70 min: A couple of changes. Gestade comes on for Gil, while Mahrez is replaced by Ulloa. The latter is in the thick of it almost immediately: De Laet curls a fine cross into the Villa box from the right. Villa are short on numbers, and if Ulloa traps, he’ll be one on one with Bunn, 12 yards out. He doesn’t trap.
68 min: And now Villa are so close to an equaliser! Kante clatters into the increasingly influential Ayew down the right, near the byline. The resulting free kick is headed over from close range by Okore.
67 min: Vardy tears down the middle after a defence-splitting Drinkwater pass. He rounds Bunn on the outside, but the keeper’s done enough to push him wide left. Vardy crosses into the six-yard box, finding Drinkwater, who has kept running in support. But Drinkwater can only flick a strange effort wide right of the post. Leicester so close to a game-clinching second.
66 min: Now Ayew dribbles his way down the right, and breaks into space as he enters the Leicester box. He unselfishly pulls the ball back for Gueye who, cutting in from the right, hits a first-time shot goalwards. It’s a rare old pelt, but straight at Schmeichel.
64 min: This is all Villa right now. Ayew breaks down the left and very nearly finds Westwood in the Leicester area with a low, threaded pass of a cross. Huth steps in to intercept.
61 min: Huth and Kozak go up to challenge Westwood’s left-wing cross on the penalty spot. Huth sticks out a firm arm and clatters Kozak in the mush. That’s clumsy bordering on reckless, and should lead to a penalty kick. The referee isn’t going to give it, though, and Leicester break upfield, very nearly releasing Vardy on goal. Thankfully for those who’d like Villa Park to remain in the environs of Birmingham, the ball ends up harmlessly back with Bunn. If Leicester had gone two up after that penalty shout, the steam coming out of the home support’s ears would likely have propelled the stadium into space. As it is, they’re livid enough. That’s a poor decision.
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60 min: Leicester hook the goalscorer Okazaki and send on De Laet. They’ll push Simpson further forward.
59 min: Simpson dribbles down the right. Cissokho, who has been very busy since the restart, sticks to him like glue. No space for a cross, but Simpson wins a corner. A brilliant short corner routine is worked back up the flank and along the front of the Villa box for Drinkwater, who opens his body and powerfully sidefoots a rising shot goalwards. Bunn tips over well. The second corner, another short routine but over on the left, is a total farce, and best forgotten.
56 min: Ayew attempts to bicycle-kick a Cissokho left-wing cross goalwards from 12 yards. He can’t connect properly. Leicester make a Broadway-style song and dance of clearing their box, but do so eventually. Villa are beginning to make their presence felt. A little. Small acorns, and all that.
54 min: Villa are pressing Leicester back for the first time in the game. Veretout curls a promising cross in from the right, but Huth, facing his own goal on the edge of the six-yard box, and with Ayew lurking, swivels and hooks clear.
52 min: Space for Cissokho down the left again. He mishit his cross the last time he was down here, but now he pearls a fine rising shot goalwards from just inside the box. Problem is, it’s straight at Schmeichel, who parries away from danger with powerful fists. That’s given the home faithful something to shout about, though.
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51 min: Konte and Albrighton swarm around the Villa midfield. The latter wins possession and feeds Mahrez, who nearly sends Okazaki clear down the middle with a first-time volleyed pass. Villa look fairly porous at the back.
49 min: The game already seems quite stretched, a state of affairs that can only benefit Leicester. Mahrez should send Okazaki scampering away down the right, with Villa very light at the back, but he hesitates, over-elaborates, and the chance to launch a very dangerous counter-attack is gone.
47 min: Ayew loses possession in the midfield, allowing Albrighton to plant a shot in the top-right corner ... of the stand behind the goal. Villa fly up the other end, but with plenty of men in the box, Cissokho tops his cross like a 28-handicap golfer. The ball trundles apologetically to Huth, who strides away from danger. “Ranieri says it’s a local derby? No it isn’t. It’s more than 40 miles. Derby-Forest is a derby. It’s 15 miles. If you can’t imagine D.H. Lawrence walking it, it’s not a derby. Is anorakilly a word? Anorakilly, Mark Regan.”
And we're off again!
There was time during the half-time interval to look at a few replays of the Leicester goal. Lescott needs a clip around the lug for his role in it. When Vardy lobbed Bunn from distance, Lescott stopped running, assuming the ball was heading in. But Bunn made the save, and Lescott’s laziness allowed Okazaki, ten yards behind him, to make up the ground and score his goal. That’s brilliant opportunism from the striker, but Lescott’s reaction wasn’t far short of a total disgrace. Relegation battle going on here, Joleon! [Snaps fingers a few times in front of glazed eyes.] Joleon? Anyway, Leicester get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.
Half-time entertainment: It’s cold outside. We’re watching Leicester City. What more excuses do we need to revisit this gem by the incomparable Rob Bagchi?
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HALF TIME: Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester City
Nothing happens in added time. So at the break, this is going with the form book. It would be almost done and dusted had Mahrez put his boot through his penalty kick, but that miss keeps Villa in the game. It ensures a dramatic second half, whatever happens. Don’t go anywhere!
45 min: There will be two added minutes of this first half.
44 min: Now this is a bit better. Gueye sashays down the inside-right channel and very nearly breaks clear into the Leicester box. He sends a speculative shot towards the top left. It’s too high, but a decent enough effort given the lack of time and space he had to work with.
43 min: A hopeful ball lumped into the Leicester box earns Villa a corner as Fuchs gets a bit wobbly and heads needlessly behind. Schmeichel punches the corner clear with some vigour. Villa can’t get anything going up front at all.
41 min: Leicester are first to everything in the middle of the park when it really counts. Albrighton snaffles the ball down the left and is this close to sending Vardy and Okazaki scampering away on a two-on-one caper.
39 min: Cissokho has a whack from 25 yards, but that’s never beating Schmeichel, who smothers the low shot easily enough.
37 min: Well that was quite the burst of action. Both teams take turns to knock the ball around the back a bit, as though they need to take stock of a volatile series of events.
35 min: What an escape for Villa, who would have looked down and out had that penalty kick flown in. And they’re nearly level seconds later. A free kick out on the right is sent into the Leicester box by Westwood, and is close to finding Ayew, six yards out. But the striker can’t guide the ball on target, and it looks like he was offside anyway. Still, Leicester hearts were in mouths there, and the home side aren’t out of this yet.
Leicester miss penalty!
33 min: And Mahrez fluffs it! A casual chip down the middle, and Claudio Ranieri will be cursing Antonín Panenka right now. To be fair to Bunn, he still had to react to block it, and he did his job rather well. A bit of karmic payback for his futile efforts to stop Leicester’s goal, perhaps. But still.
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Penalty for Leicester!
32 min: It looks like Okazaki is brought down by Okore as he bursts into the Villa box on the left. It should be a penalty but it isn’t given. No matter: Vardy takes up the loose ball and whips it low to the far post. Mahrez sends a first-time shot from 12 yards arrowing towards goal. It hits Cissokho’s arm. Now that’s a penalty, for Cissokho’s arms were flailing everywhere.
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30 min: In the centre circle, Ayew comes through the back of Mahrez, a rake down his leg. It’s a booking at least - you’ve seen players sent off for much less - but the referee keeps his cards in his pocket.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Leicester City (Okazaki 28)
Vardy chases another high flick down the inside-left channel. He sends a delicious first-time lob over Bunn and surely into the goal. But the keeper backtracks well and grabs the ball off the line, a stunning save. Sadly for Bunn, Okazaki is on hand to tap the loose ball home. Bunn tries his best to save that one too, but can only parry with the ball well behind the line. A moment of uncertainty, but the technology confirms what the referee would have signalled anyway, it was fairly obvious.
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27 min: Bacuna, near the Leicester corner flag on the right, whips a deep, dipping cross to Westwood, just inside the area on the left. Westwood attempts a scissor kick, but mistimes it woefully.
25 min: Gueye keeps bundling Okazaki to the ground, the striker seemingly having his number when running from deep in the midfield. He’ll need to watch himself, because the referee has ticked him off on two occasions now.
23 min: A lull in play, but it doesn’t quell the raucous derby atmosphere. The fans take turns to discuss rolls of honour, likely divisional status next season, etc.
20 min: An appallingly weak Huth backpass allows Kozak to tear clear down the inside-right channel. He’s free on goal, albeit at a tight angle. Kasper Schmeichel makes like his dad with a star-jump to parry Kozak’s shot. But Kozak can pick up the rebound, and should have another whack. But - the midweek confidence gone already - he declines the option of a second shot, and tries to feed the ball inside for Gil. Morgan comes across to intercept and clear. What a terrible waste. When you’re struggling like Villa, you’ve got to accept every gift.
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19 min: Space for the busy Albrighton to the left of the Villa box. He curls a delightful cross towards the far post, where Okazaki is thundering in. Lescott does marvellously well to eyebrow the ball out for a corner on the right. The set piece nearly falls to Morgan on the penalty spot, but Villa manage to clear.
17 min: Okazaki makes good down the inside-right channel and has a batter from 25 yards. Westwood is on the case to make the block. The home side are beginning to panic a little here, as the pressure’s turned up on their creaky back line.
15 min: Albrighton looks for the top left with the free kick, but there’s not enough whip or pace on the ball, and Bunn gathers easily enough. After a slow start up front, Leicester have started to put themselves about a bit.
14 min: Vardy scoots after an Albrighton flick down the inside-left channel. Bunn rushes out of his area. He’s not getting there ahead of Vardy, who tries to take the ball round him on the outside. The keeper takes him down. But it’s only a booking - the correct decision - because Villa had a couple of men covering in the middle.
13 min: A free kick for Leicester out on the left, near the centre circle. They load the box. Albrighton curls the set piece towards Vardy, on the penalty spot. Vardy guides a header down and back up towards the top left. It’s not travelling fast, but the bounce would have beaten Bunn had it been on target. As it is, the ball zips wide left.
11 min: Fuchs creams a long ball down the left wing with the intention of finding Vardy. But Vardy is nowhere near it. Leicester haven’t quite got going as an attacking force yet.
9 min: Kante clips Veretout’s ankles with the Villa midfielder going nowhere down the right wing. Free kick, and a change for Villa to load the box. Gil and Veretout work the free kick down the rightflank, the latter hitting a deep cross to Kozak. The striker chests back to Westwood, but the midfielder doesn’t read the pass, presumably expecting Kozak to take the ball down and have a shot instead, given he was inside the area with a little bit of space and time to work with. “Going down,” chant the away fans.
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6 min: Some nice crisp Villa passing, from the left to the right flank. Eventually the ball’s worked into the middle, where Gueye attempts to release Gil into the area down the inside-right channel. Huth steps in to intercept, but that’s a nice move. A little bit of confidence has come back, perhaps.
4 min: Morgan hoicks a long ball down the right wing. Vardy eagerly scampers after it. Lescott shepherds the ball out of play for a goal kick easily enough. It’s all a bit scrappy so far, but Leicester have had the better of the early exchanges, for what that’s worth.
2 min: A loose pass by Westwood in the midfield allows Vardy to tear off down the left wing at purpose. He’s only got Okazaki in the middle, surrounded by Villa shirts. His looping cross briefly threatens to float into the top-right corner of Bunn’s goal, in the style of Paul Konchesky in the 2006 FA Cup final. But it clears the crossbar.
And we're off!
The home side get the ball rolling, and lose possession within three seconds. Leicester take another two seconds to gift the ball straight back. Villa lose it again, and then concede a cheap free kick in the middle of the park. Hectic to say the least, and the only way is up.
The teams are out! It’s a cold, crisp, atmospheric night at Villa Park. Plenty of noise. The home side are in their old-school claret and blue, while Leicester wear third-choice white shirts. We’ll be off in a minute.
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Claudio Ranieri talks! Is this extra special because Leicester have a chance of going top tonight? “We have a lot of motivation. It’s a local derby, and that’s very tough in every town, every country, every city. But of course after our victory at Tottenham we would like to see what will happen now. We will continue to fight. I hope to win, but I know very well it will be a tough match tonight.”
Remi Garde speaks! “We are all a little bit better after the win against Crystal Palace. But the last game is finished now, and this is a tough game. We have a little bit more confidence. We will see. We will have to be strong because Leicester are a very good team this season. It’s going to be tough, but we made a step forward on Tuesday.”
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Aston Villa haven’t had many opportunities to say that this season, so you’ve got to take your chances when they finally come along. And so Remi Garde names an unchanged team from the one that started the midweek 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
If it ain’t etc. pt.II. Title-chasing Leicester City won at title-chasing Tottenham Hotspur the other day. So why bother tinkering with a winning formula? Claudio Ranieri knows full well when to leave alone. The 11 men selected at White Hart Lane start at Villa Park.
The teams
Aston Villa: Bunn, Bacuna, Okore, Lescott, Cissokho, Westwood, Gueye, Veretout, Ayew, Kozak, Gil.
Subs: Guzan, Richards, Clark, Sinclair, Richardson, Lyden, Gestede.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Drinkwater, Kante, Mahrez, Okazaki, Albrighton, Vardy.
Subs: De Laet, King, Gray, Ulloa, Wasilewski, Schwarzer, Inler.
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire).
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Good evening!
The hope’s the worst thing. Aston Villa have looked surefire candidates for relegation pretty much from the get-go this season, the inevitable conclusion to several years of floundering in the lower reaches of the Premier League. They’ve been written off by all and sundry, by both friend and foe, and that’s understandable enough: at the halfway mark they’d earned the grand total of eight points. This is Derby Countyesque. There’s no way back from that. The great escapes of Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City would have nothing on this.
But there’s always hope. Crystal Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey threw one into his own net during the week, and suddenly Villa had their first victory since the opening day of the season. Their first three-point haul since August! Given that hit ratio, this following statement may be just a tad previous, but let’s say it anyway: as things stand, Villa are suddenly just three wins from safety. Another win tonight, and suddenly the picture will look a whole lot rosier, the team finally enjoying bit of momentum and the increase in confidence that comes with it. All looked lost. Well, it still sort of does, but what’s the point in sport if you’re not allowed to dream? Another win tonight would do just the trick, and get everyone recalibrating their foregone conclusions.
Problem with all that is, tonight’s game is top versus bottom. The visitors are Leicester City, the season’s surprise swashbucklers, everyone’s second team right now. One win in a row may have given Villa a little spring in their step, but Leicester by comparison are sashaying on air: they’re coming off the back of two confident displays in cup and league at White Hart Lane, one of the hardest places in the land to visit. If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere. And making it is pretty much what they’ve been doing all season: a draw or a win here tonight for Claudio Ranieri’s confident team will send the Foxes to the top of the table.
Leicester go into this game as favourites, having beaten Tim Sherwood’s side 3-2 earlier in the season. Villa, for their part, will take heart from results at Villa Park last year: a pair of 2-1 wins in league and cup. Expect goals tonight, as Leicester have only failed to score in three matches this season, while Villa have conceded 43 times. But it’s top versus bottom, and you know what football can be like. Can Leicester reach the summit? Can Villa make it two on the bounce and encourage hopes of another Great Escape? It could be a mini-classic. It’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm GMT.
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