Leicester City continued to climb the Championship table following a well-deserved 2-0 win this afternoon over East Midlands rivals Derby County at the Walkers Stadium.
Andy King opened the scoring in the first half after Darius Vassell’s earlier finish was adjudged to have been offside.
Former Derby County favourite Steve Howard doubled Leicester’s lead with twenty minutes remaining with a spot kick after Kyle Naughton was brought down in the penalty area.
Victory for the Foxes meant that they rose to fifteenth in the league, halting high-flying Derby’s three-game winning streak in the process.
Leicester were almost ahead in the opening few minutes when Darius Vassell latched on to a long ball from Jack Hobbs, before firing past the onrushing Derby goalkeeper Frank Fielding – however, the former England international was adjudged to have been offside and thus the goal was disallowed.
The Foxes continued to capitalise on a strong start, and were ahead shortly afterwards when Richie Wellens split the Rams’ defence with a pinpoint ball through to fellow midfielder Andy King, who coolly slotted past Fielding for his seventh goal of the season.
Derby rarely threatened in the opening quarter of the match, with Kris Commons’ shot straight at Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale being the visitors’ first chance on goal.
Shortly afterwards, Paul Gallagher and on-loan Greg Cunningham linked up nicely on the left hand side with Cunningham delivering a good cross in towards Andy King, but the Welshman failed to trouble Fielding with his effort.
Leicester continued to press for a second goal and came close just before the half hour mark when Paul Gallagher’s mazy run was capped off with a fine shot from 25 yards; however, the Scotsman’s effort sailed just over the crossbar.
It was Derby who finished the last ten minutes of the half as the stronger side, with Commons firing just wide of the post from 25 yards, and Luke Moore blasting over from close range after the City defence was caught on the back foot.
Tomasz Cywka came close for the visitors five minutes before half-time after a good run into the penalty area, but the former Polish under-21 international miscued his shot and the ball sailed harmlessly past Chris Weale’s near post.
Derby manager Nigel Clough must have been pleased with his side’s display at the end of the first half, but it was the Foxes who came back biting after the break through Steve Howard - looking determined to score against his former club - heading over from Darius Vassell’s cross just two minutes into the second period.
The away side should have been on level terms just after the hour mark when Kris Commons had a free header in the Foxes’ penalty area; but the former Nottingham Forest man failed to hit the target from twelve yards when he should have at least tested Chris Weale.
The introduction of substitute Lloyd Dyer gave the home side a much-needed energy boost, with the winger coming close with a curling shot parried away by Fielding after a fine run into the Derby penalty area.
Dyer continued to threaten, this time after meeting a Paul Gallagher cross in the box, but was unable to direct his effort on target after good pressure from the Rams’ defence.
Leicester’s attacking prowess eventually paid off when Kyle Naughton was clumsily brought down the penalty area by Kris Commons, with referee Steve Tanner having no hesitation in awarding the spot kick.
Steve Howard stepped up to fire the ball past Fielding for his fifth goal of the season - his second penalty in as many games – and crucially, to give Leicester a much more comfortable 2-0 lead.
As the Derby heads dropped, Leicester continued to press in search of a third goal, with the tireless Paul Gallagher terrorising the Derby backline with pinpoint crossing and excellent technical ability.
As the minutes wound down, Gallagher almost added insult to injury when his low shot took a wicked deflection and almost found its way into the bottom corner – however, Fielding managed to scramble across to his near post just in time.
The final whistle indicated another impressive win for Leicester under Sven-Goran Eriksson, a third clean sheet in four league games, and gave the Foxes bragging rights over a strong Derby County side.
Man of the Match – Richie Wellens
No comments:
Post a Comment