Ainsworth ready to keep on scrapping
DANIEL AMARTEY gave Leicester’s Champions League aspirations a major boost — and Brighton’s survival hopes a kick in the wotsits.
The Foxes defender headed home Marc Albrighton’s corner with just three minutes of normal time remaining after Kelechi Iheanacho had cancelled out Adam Lallana’s first-half opener.
Brighton and their boss Graham Potter could not be more down on their luck at the moment and they must be wondering what they have done to deserve yet another setback.
Particularly because they were head and shoulders the best side in the first half.
But Leicester refused to give up and Amartey’s late show will give them a major confidence boost for the run-in.
Lallana’s effort was his first for Brighton and you had to go back 18 months to find his last one.
It came against Manchester United when he was still a Liverpool player, with Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers ironically the manager who’d taken him to Anfield in the first place. Both will have arrived at the Amex Stadium last night knowing how important a win would be for their two sides, albeit for very different reasons.
Leicester came into the game on the back of a miserable 11 days which had seen them knocked out of the Europa League by Slavia Prague and lose ground in the race for the top four with a defeat by Arsenal and a draw against Burnley.
To compound matters, Harvey Barnes was added to a crippling injury list in that time and fears started to surface among fans that they might drop away from the Champions League again at a similar stage of the season to last year.
Brighton, on the other hand, had managed just one win in six prior to kick-off, with their victory against Liverpool at the start of February the last time they had tasted success.
It’s not as if they have been playing particularly badly, either, and with Lady Luck and VAR conspiring against them in recent weeks.
Not that they looked to be lacking confidence in a dominant first half and they thoroughly deserved the lead they held when they went in at half-time.
They passed the ball well and took advantage of Leicester’s issues at the back, where Amartey was struggling.
Amartey and Kasper Schmeichel put themselves under pressure midway through the first half and, although it didn’t lead directly to the goal, it certainly contributed.
Brighton deserve credit for pressing them high up the pitch and when Neal Maupay held off a couple of Foxes players he slipped a lovely ball to Lallana who provided a neat finish.
At the other end, Leicester were largely quiet until Ricardo Pereira was released and it took a brave save from Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez to deny him.
Sanchez then had to produce a fantastic save to keep out a stinging, strike from teenager Sidnei Tavares on his full Leicester debut after Jamie Vardy’s little header set him up on the edge of the D. Brighton were unfortunate not to go in two ahead at the break after a Pascal Gross free-kick met with a cute, deft header from Lallana.
The effort beat Schmeichel but came back off a post and Wilfred Ndidi hoofed it clear.
Credit to Leicester, they were a different side after the break and just as they deserved to be behind they just about merited their equaliser.
It came when Timothy Castagne released Iheanacho with a lovely through-ball and he provided the finish.
Lallana had another fine effort at the other end but Schmeichel was equal to it. It looked like ending in a draw which would have helped neither side – until Amartey pounced.
FIGHTING Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth has vowed he will never stop scrapping in their bid to avoid relegation.
Goals from defenders Rhys Norrington-Davies and Harry Souttar condemned the battling Chairboys to defeat, which leaves them 12 points adrift of safety.
But the Wanderers gaffer insists his boys will not throw in the towel.
“We are still fighting hard. Even at 2-0 down we were fighting,” he said.
“Games are running out and it is tough but we are fighting hard.
“We are always going to fight and try. We are never going to give up, no matter how dark the fight seems.
“We have got 12 games to go and we need to win 75 per cent of them.”
Norrington-Davies opened the scoring midway through the second half before Souttar wrapped up the points five minutes later.
But Potters boss Michael O’Neill felt his wasteful side should have won by more.
“We deserved to win the game, there is no doubt about it,” said O’Neill, who saw his side end their three-game losing run.
“We were wasteful in the first 20 minutes of the game and should have scored two or three during that period of play.
“We got dragged into a battle in the first half which we were trying to avoid.
“We played well in the second half and it’s disappointing we didn’t win by more.”