That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check back later for a full match report.
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What a difference a year makes.
What a difference a year makes for Leicester City. pic.twitter.com/0ZLsmRmNoE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 19, 2016
Welp.
Leicester fans spent the last 8 minutes since the final whistle singing "we're going to win the league" at Selhurst Park
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) March 19, 2016
Full time: Crystal Palace 0-1 Leicester City
And there’s the final whistle from referee Mike Jones and Leicester City’s remarkable run continues. They’re now eight points clear of Tottenham, who host Bournemouth tomorrow.
90 min+2: Delaney very nearly snatches a point for Palace as his shot caroms off the woodwork. Unlucky!
90 min: Three minutes of added time afoot. Final sub for Leicester as Vardy makes way for Amartey.
87 min: Vardy very nearly doubles Leicester’s lead but Delaney saves Palace with a last-second challenge.
85 min: Another sub for Leicester: the goal-scorer Mahrez makes way for Jeffrey Schlupp.
83 min: A well struck effort by Sako is punched out for a corner. It falls to Cabaye and it’s deflected out for yet another corner. Then a third. Palace really pushing for an equalizer here.
81 min: Drinkwater picks out Mahrez, who dribbles into the area past a defender and wins a corner. Ball is sent to Fuchs, whose shot is deflected.
78 min: The hosts make their third and final swap as Gayle comes on for Ledley.
76 min: Leicester make their first change of the match as Ulloa comes on for Okazaki.
72 min: More pressure from Palace. Kelly’s low cross into the box is pounced on by Schmeichel. Meanwhile in the crowd, a sightline that is shall we say less than ideal.
@BryanAGraham it could be worse for @barneyronay, my friend paid £40 for this, not even advertised as "Restricted" https://t.co/7dva7as2Xv
— Alex Marsh (@Alexikokopops) March 19, 2016
70 min: Now Vardy wins a corner. Albrighton to take it. The attempted clearance winds up at the foot of Mahrez, who dribbles around a defender and offers a shot that’s saved by Hennessey.
67 min: Moments after Zaha wins a corner for Palace that comes to nothing, Vardy wins a free kick. Nothing.
64 min: Lots of back-and-forth action over the past few minutes but no meaningful chances for either side. An email from Mark Turner on “Ranieri’s sartorial elegance”:
You can take the Italian out of his perfectly tailored suit, but...
60 min: Palace win another corner and continue to turn the screw on the Leicester defense, but we’ve seen so many times this year how the counter-attacking Foxes can thrive out of these situations.
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59 min: Sako curls an incisive cross into the area from the left flank but there’s nobody home. Pity. The Malian winger has been excellent today.
57 min: Palace win a corner now, but it’s cleared easily.
55 min: Here’s a note from Thabo Mokaleng, who clarifies that he is not a Leicester fan.
I’m watching Claudio Ranieri prowling the touchline like some majestic beast and I wonder: Am I one of 1,057 who thinks he’s grown more suave, more... (oh, I’ll say it!) handsome as the season’s wore on?
53 min: Palace have won a couple of free kicks over the past few minutes but don’t have anything to show for it. Just now Sako plays it down the line to Bolasie, whose cross goes out for a goal kick.
48 min: Okazaki turns in the area and fires a right-footed rocket that just sails over the crossbar. He very nearly doubled Leicester’s lead just there!
46 min: The second half is underway with two changes for Palace: Sako and Kelly on for Adebayor and Souare. Looks like the oncoming players will be positioned on either end of a five-man midfield with Bolasie operating as a lone striker up top.
Half-time: Crystal Palace 0-1 Leicester City
Riyad Mahrez’s 34th-minute strike, his 16th Premier League strike of the season, is the difference so far.
Half time! Man of the moment? @Mahrez22. #BPL pic.twitter.com/l4EQuywOyU
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) March 19, 2016
45 min: The fourth official calls for one minute of stoppage time.
42 min: Souare hacks down Vardy as Leicester is looking to pivot into a counter-attack and is correctly shown yellow.
40 min: Albrighton has a go on goal but it’s deflected then saved by Hennessey. An email from John Tumbridge:
Does anyone agree with me that after doing eff all for his 100k a week that Adebayor owes Spurs at least one goal or even one for the 35k they are still seemingly paying him?
37 min: Ironically, Palace just now enjoying their best spell of the match. A Bolasie shot is deflected and cleared out and Palace will have a corner.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Leicester City (Mahrez, 34 min)
The Foxes work it around the perimeter of the area until Vardy sends a speculative low cross into the area that Mahrez runs onto with perfect timing and pounds into the back of the net from six yards out.
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31 min: Schmeichel shown yellow for arguing with the referee.
30 min: Cabaye finds Bolasie along the left side, who surges into the area and finds Zaha at the back post but he sends it wide of the target. Easily Palace’s best chance of the match!
26 min: Jedinak sends a ball forward to Adebayor, but Huth steps forward to clear it. A bit of a rudderless start for Palace here.
22 min: Zaha hacked down by Albrighton near the halfway line. The referee has a chat with the Leicester man but declines to book him.
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20 min: A second corner in three minutes for Leicester, who are beginning to mount pressure after a more passive start. It’s delivered toward the near post and goes out for another corner.
18 min: A lightning-quick counter-attack – Leicester’s calling card this year – finds Mahrez sprinting toward the net onto a ball from Drinkwater with only the keeper to beat. But Hennessey stands tall to block the shot and a Palace defender clears it off the line. A corner.
17 min: Nice interplay by Vardy and Drinkwater up the right flank, but a final ball forward to Drinkwater is struck too hard and Hennessey easily collects it.
13 min: The teams have traded possession over the past few minutes with no substantial chances for either side. The Leicester fans making themselves heard at Selhurst Park.
9 min: More hard work for Okazaki, this time up the self side. He surges into the area with the ball and flicks a cross toward the head of Mahrez, but it just misses the target and is cleared by the far post.
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5 min: Okazaki working hard along the right flank. He fights past a defender and lobs a cross toward Vardy in the area, but the Palace defenders close in and it’s cleared.
3 min: Palace move the ball down the pitch and it’s given to Bolasie, who dribbles into space before uncorking a speculative shot from 30 yards toward to near post that’s easily corralled by Schmeichel.
1 min: The players are on the pitch and we’re off an running! Leicester attacking from right to left in all-white strips, Palace in traditional home kits. And very early on a cross in from Vardy is turned away by a Palace defender.
Our Barney Ronay is on the ground at Selhurst Park with a unique perspective on today’s match.
Catch all the action in tomorrow's observer. As long as there are no goals incidents events or actual things pic.twitter.com/5Da8tGeUns
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) March 19, 2016
Hello and welcome to Selhurst Park for today’s match between Crystal Palace and surprise Premier League frontrunners Leicester City. Only eight games remain between the Foxes and history. Can they avoid a hiccup today?
With kickoff just over 20 minutes away, here’s a look at today’s teams.
Crystal Palace
XI: Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; Zaha, Cabaye, Jedinak, Ledley; Bolasie, Adebayor
Subs: Speroni, Kelly, Mutch, Sako, Puncheon, Campbell, Gayle
Leicester City
XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Mahrez, Kanté, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy
Subs: Schwarzer, Amartey, Schlupp, Gray, Ulloa, Wasilewski, Inler
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at Ed Aarons’ preview of today’s match.
Selhurst Park has been a graveyard for prospective Premier League champions in the past and despite Palace’s failure to record a league win so far in 2016, Leicester City will be wary of their trip to south London. Alan Pardew’s side have belied their struggles to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 21 years and, with Yannick Bolasie back on form, Palace could be a potential banana skin for the Foxes. Claudio Ranieri had a sausage, of all things, named after him this week by a local butcher but the Leicester manager knows this is no time to take anything for granted.
