FOXES FLYING
Leicester battle back to reclaim place at summit
ENZO MARESCA’S Foxes mounted a storming secondhalf fightback to reclaim the Championship’s top spot.
Trailing to an early Tom Bradshaw header, it appeared that the pressure being exerted by Ipswich had left Leicester without any answers.
The Tractor Boys hit the summit after their win at Watford on Tuesday, ending Leicester’s three-month run as pacesetters. But the east Midlands side gathered themselves last night after a limp opening. A quickfire double in three minutes soon after the break was followed by Ricardo Pereira’s late clincher.
Joe Edwards’ Millwall took the lead in the first goalmouth action of the evening. Murray Wallace sidestepped Abdul Fatawu on the left flank and hiscross deflected neatly off Bradshaw’s head and into the net. Foxes keeper Mads Hermansen barely moved.
The hosts were unfortunate not to have been given the chance to equalise 10 minutes before the interval. Fatawu produced a lovely piece of skill to flummox Wes Harding and the centre-half clearly upended the lively winger.
Referee Keith Stroud failed to spot the infringement – but defender Conor Coady did not and was booked for being too zealous in his complaints. Within three minutes of the restart, the scores were level. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was given far too much time to swing over a cross from the left. Jannik Vestergaard had stayed up following a corner and he managed to beat keeper Matija Sarkic to the ball and guided his header into an empty net.
Leicester added a second within four minutes. Harry
Winks fed a ball to Wilfred Ndidi down the inside left channel. The midfielder dinked a cross over Sarkic’s head and Daka had the simplest of tasks, using his knee to help the ball over the line.
Substitute Tom Cannon fired off a shot which two Millwall players failed to clear. Eventually Pereira, left, tried his luck from the edge of the area and the ball deflected of Ndidi to defeat Sarkic.
Millwall sub Kevin Nisbet netted a consolation in injury time. He beat Hermansen to a corner and when the ball bounced down he prodded home.
LEICESTER (3-2-4-1): Hermansen 5; Coady 6, (Justin 60, 6) Vestergaard 7, Faes 6; Pereira 6, Ndidi 7; Mavididi 6, Winks 8, Dewsbury-Hall 7, (Praet 79) Fatawu 6; Daka 6 (Cannon 71). Goals: Vestergaard 48, Daka 52, Ricardo Pereira 78.
MILLWALL (5-3-2): Sarkic 5; Norton-Cuffy 6, Leonard 6, Cooper 6, Harding 5, Wallace 6; (McNamara 46) Campbell 5, (Mitchell 83) Saville 7, Honeyman 6; (Longman 83) Watmore 5, (Flemming 74) Bradshaw 6 (Nisbet 74). Goals: Bradshaw 10, Nisbet 90.