Emotional Celebrations As Leicester Win

Leicester City played with great will and nerve to beat Cardiff City 1-0 on an emotional day as the Foxes returned to action for the first time since the death of their owner in a helicopter crash.

On an afternoon when football seemed both an irrelevance and a form of release for Leicester’s grieving players and fans, the two clubs united to remember Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the other four people who lost their lives on October 27.

Leicester’s players were visibly moved during a minute’s silence and, after the laying of wreaths before the match, there were further tributes including the unfurling of banners shared between the two sets of fans, who joined forces to create a stirring atmosphere of rare solidarity. “You can see by our reaction at the end of the game, how much we wanted to get the win and do it for the chairman,” said Leicester captain Wes Morgan.

“We felt the pressure before the game. It was a scrappy game, the lads fought to the very end.”

Cardiff ’s Victor Camarasa struck the crossbar with a free-kick and Jamie Vardy felt Leicester should have had a penalty when his shot appeared to hit Sol Bamba’s arm. However, the Foxes were not to be denied and, after Demarai Gray scored with a low finish early in the second half, there was a huge outpouring of emotion as the entire team celebrated together before running over to their travelling supporters.

After scoring, Gray removed his jersey to reveal an undershirt on which the words ‘For Khun Vichai’ were emblazoned as a tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha, whose name the Leicester fans continued to sing for the rest of a highly charged and poignant afternoon.

After the final whistle, the Leicester players and backroom team stood and applauded with their fans long after the game had ended.

The Foxes move up to 10th in the table while Cardiff drop into the relegation zone in 18th after Newcastle beat Watford 1-0. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his side made “life a bit too easy” for Arsenal to fight back for a hard-earned 1-1 draw in a thrilling encounter at Emirates Stadium.

Alexandre Lacazette’s late equaliser extended the Gunners’ unbeaten run to 13 games. James Milner’s powerful strike just after the hour, drilled home after Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s clearance rebounded off Rob Holding, looked to have put unbeaten Liverpool on course for victory.

Lacazette, however, had other ideas and drew the Gunners level eight minutes from time with a superb finish on the turn after he had taken the ball away from Liverpool keeper Alisson.

“It was very intense, Arsenal are in a very good moment,” Klopp said.

“A point at Arsenal will always be a good result, so we take that and move on.”

The point puts Liverpool back on top of the Premier League but they will feel hard done by after a first-half strike from Sadio Mane was incorrectly ruled out for offside, while Virgil van Dijk hit the post with a header and forced a fine save from Leno after the break.

“I think it was a goal, it should have been a goal. He runs to the ball because he doesn’t think he is offside and then the referee whistles.”

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