VARDY RESCUES DIVER JAMES

THEY were two minutes of a fledgling career in which James Maddison learned a lesson he will never forget.

And the young England starlet owes a huge debt to the never-say-die spirit of his Leicester team-mates after collecting a second yellow card – for diving – in the space of 120 seconds at Brighton’s AMEX Stadium.

Maddison’s double dose of daftness was almost forgotten amid the excitement of a brilliant team display.

Jamie Vardy rose from the bench to score his first goal since September to claim a vital point for the visitors.

Manager Claude Puel did his best to avoid criticising Maddison aside from admitting that when his players receive one yellow card they need to manage the situation better.

But he was more forthcoming on the way his team fought for each other.

He said: “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.” Yet 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 out-jumped the Foxes’ defence to head home Anthony Knockaert’s corner.

Brighton were in complete control and when Maddison was shown red by ref 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.

But after the break Leicester were allowed to take the game by the scruff of the neck and when Vardy, nursing a groin problem, was sent on it injected new belief and pace into their cause. Having already pinned the Seagulls in their own half for lengthy periods, the equaliser was certainly deserved.

And after the ref pointed to the spot after the grounded Beram Kayal chopped down Kelechi Iheanacho, Vardy fired home the penalty.

It could have been worse for the home side but Iheanacho shot narrowly wide.

And Brighton manager Chis Hughton, whose side were down to 10 men in their last match at Cardiff and were denied a point by a late 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. It feels like two points lost.”