For 78 minutes Leicester were dire and the main question was whether Brighton would summon enough quality to claim three points rather than settle for just one against visitors who appeared to be struggling even to go through the motions. Then Glenn Murray was given the perfect opportunity to fire the home team towards a victory that would have put a comforting distance between them and the relegation zone. But Kasper Schmeichel saved the striker’s penalty – and then the rest of the Leicester team sprung into action, Vicente Iborra and Jamie Vardy scoring a goal each to deepen Brighton’s anguish.
Two weeks ago Murray was dreaming about going to the World Cup with England. Now, after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s last squad, he must wonder whether his miss could be among the reasons for Brighton no longer being a Premier League club by the summer. There are teams in more precarious positions, of course, including Huddersfield, who visit Brighton next week. “It’s a massive game,” acknowledged the Brighton manager, Chris Hughton.
Before Schmeichel’s penalty save, Murray had spurned the best chance of the game, blasting wide from 10 yards after being put through by Pascal Gross in the first half. But the spot-kick failure was identified by both managers as the game’s turning point. “It gave them the lift that saw them go on to score,” lamented Hughton. “It was a great boost for us and the opposite for Brighton,” agreed the Leicester manager, Claude Puel.
Puel had cut an angry figure for most of the match because his team were so sloppy. For long periods the only entertainment came from watching the normally even-tempered Frenchman build to a thunderous rage on the sidelines as his players repeatedly gave the ball away. On countless occasions Leicester got opportunities to spring counterattacks, only to abort the move by either over- or under-hitting an intended through-ball. Shinji Okazaki was a serial offender before being withdrawn in the 55th minute. Vardy was isolated. And Puel’s angry contortions in front of the dugout suggested he felt personally trolled. “We didn’t come back from the international break, I think,” said Puel of his team’s first-half slackness.
Brighton, in greater need of three points, were more sprightly. Jürgen Locadia impressed on his first Premier League start since signing from PSV for more than £14m in January. Powerful and adroit, the Dutchman made several dangerous incursions down the right before he faded and was replaced in the 75th minute.
If loose passing spoiled most of Leicester’s attacks, it also nearly offered an opening goal to Brighton in the 34th minute. Harry Maguire was the culprit, giving possession to Murray, who scurried forward before lashing a shot just over from the edge of the box. Three minutes later Murray squandered a better chance, blasting wide from 10 yards after being sent through by Gross.
Leicester improved after Fousseni Diabaté’s introduction in the 55th minute. They found a little more urgency and accuracy. But a Brighton substitute seemed to swing the game in the hosts’ favour in the 78th minute, when Solly March wriggled his way into the Leicester box before feeding José Izquierdo, who was brought down by Wilfred Ndidi. Murray stepped up to extend a hot streak that had seen him score six goals in his last eight matches. But Schmeichel, who came into this game in poor form, flung himself to his left to tip the shot away.
Five minutes later Iborra struck, getting a strong downward header to a cross by Ben Chilwell. As Brighton hunted an equaliser, Ndidi was unlucky to be shown a second yellow card when Shane Duffy tumbled under a legitimate tackle. By this stage Duffy had shifted from defence to attack and Leicester exploited that fact in stoppage time, when Demarai Gray crossed for Vardy to stab in from close range.
