Blues in Victor-y booster
Long’s twin miss agony
VICTOR MOSES fired home the winner last night to hand Chelsea a boost ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Southampton.
His strike saw the Blues move five points behind Tottenham in their bid for fourth place and a Champions League spot.
Antonio Conte’s side had gone ahead through a Kevin Long own goal before Ashley Barnes equalised for Burnley.
Southampton will face Chelsea at Wembley staring relegation in the face after a draw at Leicester left them stranded in the bottom three.
Saints were denied victory when keeper Ben Hamer superbly denied Shane Long from close range.
SHANE LONG was left cursing his luck after he was dealt a double dose of misery.
The Saints striker twice could have broken the deadlock and offered some relegation relief to his struggling side.
Minutes after half-time the Irish hitman thought he had scored when he cashed in on hesitancy in the Leicester defence.
Harry Maguire just couldn’t get a toe to a Dusan Tadic pass and the ball fell to Long six yards out at an angle.
He turned and shot in a flash only to see keeper Ben Hamer, standing in for the injured Kasper Schmeichel, make a brilliant point-blank block to deny him.
Earlier on, just before the break, Long should have done better when he was put through but made a hash as he tried to switch feet.
England boss Gareth Southgate looked on from the stands but he can’t have been impressed by what was served up.
Saints went into the game hardly needing to be reminded that this match could have a crucial say on whether they survive.
Five points adrift of safety is a steep enough task when you’re showing any semblance of form.
But Mark Hughes’ side are well and truly on the slide and can’t seem to apply the brakes.
On the back of three defeats in a row, their last success on their travels in the league was way back in September, when they beat Crystal Palace 1-0.
They face Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal on Sunday but Hughes would have spelled out that Premier League survival was the one and only priority.
There is an argument that they couldn’t have faced Leicester at a better time.
The Foxes aren’t exactly on the beach yet, but with their battle for seventh spot looking to be beyond them, pride was about all that was resting on it.
The opening 45 minutes proved a disappointing affair and Three Lions boss Southgate must have wondered why he’d bothered.
The best opportunity of the first half fell to Long a minute before the break and he really should have done better.
A superb defence-splitting ball from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg sent Long racing clear.
But as he tried to shift the ball in his feet he ended up clipping it and surrendered it far too easily as it slipped through to the keeper. Saints boss Hughes held his arms aloft in disbelief – opportunities like that are way too valuable to squander.
Ryan Bertrand had curled a left foot shot just wide of the post a little earlier.
Riyad Mahrez forced keeper Alex McCarthy to save low down early on when Jamie Vardy put him through.
Kelechi Iheanacho tried to make the breakthrough with a double effort in the 16th minute – his first shot was blocked and when he picked himself up off the floor he snatched another effort just wide.
Southampton survived some intense late pressure from the hosts but Leicester were unable to find a breakthrough and Saints held on.
Time will tell if a point is enough for them to stay up. LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Hamer; Albrighton, Maguire, Dragovic, Chilwell; Ndidi, Silva; Mahrez, Gray, Iheanacho; Vardy. Subs: Jakupovic, Simpson, Morgan, Fuchs, Barnes, Diabate, Choudhury. SOUTHAMPTON (3-4-3): McCarthy; Hoedt, Yoshida, Bednarek; Cedric, Bertrand, Romeu, Hojbjerg; Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Long. Subs: Forster, Pied, Sims, Davis, Redmond, Gabbiadini, Austin. Referee: Roger East.