Vard luck story
JAMIE HEADS FOXES WINNER AFTER SPOT OF BOTHER
JAMIE VARDY put Leicester within touching distance of a Premier League return – despite a rare penalty miss.
The striker hit the post with his first-half spot-kick after Wilfred Ndidi had given the Foxes the lead.
But Vardy headed home the crucial second – his 17th of the season – before Jed Wallace got one back for West Brom.
Leicester now need just two wins to go up but can do so as early as Tuesday if they beat Southampton, and Leeds lose to Middlesbrough on Monday.
The Foxes are top but relied on woeful finishing from the Baggies and Hamza Choudhury’s three incredible goal-line clearances.
Even boss Enzo Maresca admitted: “Today we’ve been lucky. It was a crazy game.
“If Jamie misses a chance he’ll be there again. And Hamza is very good and played some moments as a keeper. We showed our mentality today. In this moment it is more about desire. “I don’t like watching games like that but I think we are where we deserve to be now.” West Brom dominated early on with Choudhury’s stunning block on the line denying Mikey Johnston. The on-loan Celtic star could have had a hat-trick inside 15 minutes as he was foiled by Mads Hermansen before missing the target. Leicester took a 22ndminute lead against the run of play as Ndidi (left) buried from close after Vardy’s header was saved by Alex Palmer. And it looked like game over when Okay Yokuslu got the wrong side of Vardy and pushed him just inside the area in the last minute of the first half. Vardy tried to place the penalty but was denied by the post. It was the club’s first penalty miss after 12 previous successes this season.
West Brom should have levelled in the second half but Choudhury incredibly kept out both Yann M’vila and Grady Diangana on the line in one move.
From the resulting Johnston corner, Kyle Bartley hit the bar before Diangana missed another sitter and Vardy’s header from Abdul Fatawu’s cross proved decisive.
Wallace struck 14 minutes from the end slotting home Cedric Kipre’s through ball.
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan said: “I love this pressure. We’re in a good position.” LEICESTER: Hermansen 6; Choudhury 8, Coady 5, Vestergaard 7, Faes 7; Winks 7, Ndidi 7, Dewsbury-hall 7 (Praet (82) 6); Fatawu 7, Vardy 7 (Daka (86) 5), Mavididi 6 (Justin (89) 5) WEST BROM: Palmer 6; Furlong 7, Yokuslu 5 (Phillips (69) 6), Kipre 7, Bartley 6, Townsend 6; Diangana 5, M’vila 6 (Swift (7) 6), Mowatt 6 (Chalobah (70) 6), Johnston 6 (Fellows (76) 6); Wallace 7 (Maja (82) 6) STAR MAN: Hamza Choudhury – Goal-line hero. REF: Thomas Bramall 7