Penalty king Kasper saves Foxes again
Brighton edge to safety despite Maupay miss
BRENDAN Rodgers needs to remind his players there is still work to be done if they do not want to be left at home when the borders reopen.
Leicester barely looked like Europa League contenders here, never mind Champions League hopefuls.
Were it not for a first-half penalty save from Kasper Schmeichel — to deny Neal Maupay — you suspect they would not have had the wit to recover and claim a point.
Rodgers said they were much better in the second half, and he was right, but it says much that their improvement did not bring a shot on target.
The point takes them nine clear of fifth place, but after onene win in seven, a previously handsome and to cushion continues to shrink. If results go to form m tonight then they could be e six points clear of sixth with seven to play.
It was said that Rodgers’ side perhaps needed the enforced lay-off after they had faltered following their blistering start.
And after a fourth game in six without a goal, Rodgers reflected: ‘We certainly want to be better, I can’t deny that, our level needs to improve.
‘But we are an honest groupoup who will put the work in to be better. We are where we are in the table on merit and you’re never going to get through the whole season being amazing, especially a young team like ourselves.
‘We just need to add that final bit of quality in our game.’
Brighton, by contrast, had a pair of forwards in Maupay and Aaron Connolly who buzzed all over, and it was the latter who earned their 14th- minute spot- kick. Aaron Mooy dropped a ball in behind for Connolly to chase and his scurrying brought a clumsy foul from James Justin.
Schmeichel, though, was equal to Maupay’s low blast as he recorded the 22nd penalty save of his career — more than a third of the 60 he has faced.
‘Kasper is invaluable,’ Rodgers added. ‘He’s up there with the top goalkeepers in this league: his presence, his anticipation. He does his work to study the penalty takers too, he’s just so agile and fast.’
For Maupay, the low of that miss was far removed from the ecstasy of his late winner against Arsenal on Saturday.
Boss Graham Potter, whose side moved six points clear of danger, said: ‘You miss penalties in football, that’s life. You have to make sure you don’t get too high or too low and just wait for the next opportunity to put it right, which I’m sure he will.’
In keeping with the trend of Project Restart the first half was to expire goalless. In bucking the trend, however, it was fairly entertaining in periods, at least from a Brighton perspective.
It was a shame for them that the mid-half drinks break halted their early momentum. There was even the lunacy of an impromptu drinks break moments before the official pause for rehydration.
Come the half-hour, Leicester striker Jamie Vardy had touched his water bottle more times than he had the ball and it was only a comedic error by Brighton keeper Mat Ryan that presented him with a sniff of his 100th Premier League goal before the break.
Ryan appeared to have superglue on his gloves when, in attempting to throw downfield, he somehow clawed the ball back towards his own goal. Vardy gave chase and, despite getting a foot on the ball, Ryan recovered to smother.
Leicester defender Jonny Evans found himself stranded on his kitchen roof this week when attempting to tackle a pigeon problem at his home. But Connolly was the pest he had to contend with here and the Irish forward came close when scurrying through the middle of Leicester’s defence only for Caglar Soyuncu to deflect wide his curler.
A hearty holler of profanities emanated from the Brighton dugout, for it looked as if the ball would creep inside post.
It was not until first-half injurytime that Leicester threatened, and even then it took a game of pinball inside the area to present a chance for Soyuncu, who headed wide from a position that demanded better.
Leicester improved after the interval — at least in terms of territory — but the contest took a nose-dive. The hosts had a penalty appeal waved away in stoppage time when Vardy’s header caught the hand of Lewis Dunk, and replays suggest it could have been given.
Victory, though, would have been ill-deserved.