Leicester City scored four second half goals to demolish Doncaster Rovers 5-1 at the Walkers Stadium this afternoon.
The visitors went ahead after six minutes through Billy Sharp, but Leicester drew level when Paul Gallagher converted from the spot in first half stoppage time.
Richie Wellens and Kyle Naughton netted for the Foxes before Darius Vassell scored his first goal for the club with fifteen minutes to go.
Martyn Waghorn added to the score sheet in injury time to cap off a dominating second half performance and extend Sven-Goran Eriksson’s unbeaten home record in the Championship to seven games.
It was certainly a game of two halves as Doncaster were much the better side in the early exchanges, with James Hayter firing over after Leicester’s defence was caught on the back foot.
The visitors soon made amends, however, when the Foxes’ backline was again breached by some positive play, resulting in Billy Sharp acrobatically volleying the ball into the top corner.
Leicester struggled to get into the game in the opening fifteen minutes, with Richie Wellens coming closest for the home side with a shot from eighteen yards which sailed over the crossbar.
The Foxes began to look much livelier halfway through the first period as Darius Vassell burst through the heart of the Doncaster midfield, after good work from Yuki Abe, but the former England man’s shot was fortunately deflected wide – and from the ensuing corner, Andy King rattled the crossbar with a header from close range.
Moments later, Paul Gallagher broke into open space with a storming run, but his shot was easily saved by Neil Sullivan.
Despite Leicester’s mounting pressure on the Doncaster goal, the visitors had a great chance to double their lead after an uncharacteristically bad header back to goal from Curtis Davies was latched onto by David Healy who took the ball around goalkeeper Chris Weale, but could not hit the target from a tight angle.
The game changed when substitute Lloyd Dyer entered the fray after 36 minutes – Roman Bednar having picked up an injury as a result of a heavy challenge – and was soon was at the heart of the action when he was brought down by Neil Sullivan in the Doncaster penalty area, two minutes into first half injury time.
Paul Gallagher stepped up to fire the ball past Sullivan – his third goal in two games - and bring the Foxes level just before the half time.
Leicester came out all guns blazing after the break, with Curtis Davies coming extremely close with a header just wide from a corner kick.
Loanee Greg Cunningham then hit the crossbar with a rasping free kick from 25 yards out after Darius Vassell, who had replaced Roman Bednar up front, was clumsily brought down by last man Wayne Thomas.
The game turned on its head with Vassell up front as Leicester were able to pass the ball around much more openly in midfield, and work off Vassell’s blistering pace to create more attacking opportunities with continuous support from Lloyd Dyer, Kyle Naughton and Andy King.
It was all one way traffic as Leicester continued to mount the pressure in the hunt for a second goal, and Andy King almost put the Foxes ahead with a superb low drive from distance, but Neil Sullivan was equal to the challenge, parrying the ball out for a corner.
But Leicester were ahead moments later when former Doncaster man Richie Wellens found some space in the middle of the park and unleashed a powerful low strike into the bottom left hand corner of the goal, putting his home side 2-1 ahead and epitomising the home side’s supremacy shown the second half.
Leicester, reluctant to sit on their one goal advantage, maintained their attacking nature with Andy King forcing Neil Sullivan into another save, and firing just wide moments later.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Chris Weale had to be alert to tip David Healy’s looping shot around the post to preserve Leicester’s lead.
Leicester then doubled their lead with twenty minutes remaining after a superb team counter attack was capped off by full-back Kyle Naughton, who latched onto Richie Wellens’ pinpoint pass and fired across goal into the bottom corner to put the Foxes 3-1 to the good.
The hosts were oozing with confidence by this stage, and soon added a fourth to the tally when Lloyd Dyer played the ball behind the Doncaster back line for Darius Vassell who prodded the ball under Neil Sullivan for a deserved goal – his first in the Leicester blue and white.
Martyn Waghorn replaced Vassell – who received a standing ovation from the Leicester fans - with five minutes remaining and had a glorious opportunity to score when he found himself clean through on goal, however his first touch let him down and the ball ran away from him.
The former Sunderland man did add to his season tally in injury time, however, when Andy King broke clear and hit the inside of the post, giving Waghorn the simplest of tasks to put the ball into an empty net and cap off an emphatic 5-1 win.
Another home victory boosted the Foxes to thirteenth in the league – leapfrogging Doncaster in the process – and left Sven’s men just five points outside the playoff places at this stage in the season.
Man of the Match – Darius Vassell
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