Vardy is spot on for Foxes
IF anyone was doubting the spirit of Leicester, here was the answer.
The death of chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had inspired a couple of remarkable performances before the international break built largely on emotion.
But at Brighton’s Amex Stadium they showed that the togetherness they have shown off the pitch exists in spades on it too.
A goal down and a man down for over an hour, they left the south coast deserving more than just the point they claimed.
James Maddison’s two minutes of idiocy was almost forgotten amid the excitement of a brilliant team display, capped by Jamie Vardy’s first goal since September, despite starting from the bench as boss Claude Puel tried to manage his striker’s groin injury.
Puel did his best to avoid criticising Maddison after the game apart from admitting that when his players receive one yellow card they need to manage the situation better, but was more forthcoming on the way his team fought for each other.
“We played like 11 men. It was a fantastic feeling after the difficulty of the first half. We came back with quality and deserved to win at the end,” said Puel.
Leicester have conceded more goals in the opening 15 minutes of games this season than any other team and Glenn Murray added another when he outjumped the Leicester defence to head home Anthony Knockaert’s corner. Brighton were in complete control, and after Maddison was shown red by referee Christopher Kavanagh for a blatant dive trying to win a penalty within two minutes of being booked for a cynical foul on Knockaert the visitors’ fate appeared to have been sealed.
And within a couple of minutes of Maddison’s dismissal Vicente Iborra limped off. But sub Wilfred Ndidi helped divert what could have been a crisis, while Brighton failed to make the most of their numerical advantage.
After the break Leicester, surprisingly, were allowed the take the game by the scruff of the neck and when Vardy was sent on it injected new belief and pace into their cause.
Having already pinned Brighton in their own half for lengthy periods, it was nothing more than they deserved when Kavanagh pointed to the spot after the grounded Beram Kayal chopped Kelechi Iheanacho and Vardy fired home the penalty to end a five-match barren run. Brighton boss Chris Hughton (left), whose side were down to 10 men in their last match at Cardiff and were denied a point by a late, controversial goal, said: “You’ve got to be able to kill the game off and we weren’t able to do that.
“We were in a similar position and you can go one of two ways.
“You either have to not concede, or take advantage of the situation.
“We have gone through 90 minutes – apart from the goal – without a clear-cut chance, so it feels like two points lost.”