A last-gasp winner from Martyn Waghorn gave Leicester City a momentous three points as they overcame Bristol City at the Walkers Stadium.
Yakubu put the Foxes ahead from close range in the first-half, but Bristol City were level after the break courtesy of a scrappy goal by Marvin Elliot.
Martyn Waghorn’s volley in the 92nd minute however gave Leicester their fifth straight league win as they continued their play-off push.
The game was a scrappy encounter in which Leicester struggled to hit their stride as they had done in recent games, although the hosts should have been ahead inside of two minutes when Kyle Naughton’s square ball to Yakubu was fired over the bar from inside the penalty area after a quick Richie Wellens’ free-kick.
Paul Gallagher then came close for the Foxes when Patrick Van Aanholt’s pass allowed the in-form striker to bear down on goal and unleash a shot from 20 yards, but David James managed to pull off a fantastic save to keep the his side level.
The visitors’ resistance was eventually broken on 21 minutes when Sol Bamba’s point-blank header forced another good save from David James; however, the ball eventually came back out to Bamba who slid the ball across the face of the goal, only for the former England goalkeeper to spill the ball directly into the path of Yakubu who was on hand to poke the ball into the back of the net.
It was Yakubu’s fourth goal in six games for the Foxes, the Everton loanee continuing to make a good impression on the Blue Army faithful with his ability to hit the target.
Bristol City responded immediately as Steven Caulker headed wide from a free-kick in what was the visitors’ first real chance of the game.
Leicester continued to enjoy the majority of possession in the first-half as Darius Vassell threatened the Bristol defence with his pace – and the Foxes nearly doubled their lead when Yakubu played a great ball to Andy King behind the Robins’ backline, but David James again was on hand to prevent the Welsh international from finding the net.
At the other end, Martyn Woolford beat the offside trap and played the ball low across the six yard box but Sol Bamba was on hand to make a crucial block.
In the second-half, the visitors began to mount pressure on Leicester and were ahead twelve minutes after the break when Marvin Elliot’s header from a Jamie McAllister corner found the net, despite Patrick Van Aanholt and Richie Wellens’ best efforts to keep the ball from crossing the line.
The goal for Keith Millen’s side rattled Leicester, and the introduction of substitute Nicky Maynard saw the Robins grow in confidence with a sustained period of pressure on the home side.
Bristol could have gone ahead when Nicky Maynard picked out Albert Adomah in the penalty area but Ricardo was on hand to make a good save after Matt Oakley had initially slipped and given away possession.
The Foxes began to lose their shape entirely as the visitors continued to fire crosses into the penalty area – Ricardo almost spilling a high ball directly into the path of Martyn Woolford.
But with eighteen minutes ago, Leicester had a glorious opportunity to restore their advantage when Ben Mee allowed Darius Vassell to break on the counter attack before playing the ball across goal, but a mix-up between Matt Oakley and substitute Lloyd Dyer in front of goal allowed David James to make the save.
With less than ten minutes to go, Martyn Woolford’s strike took a wicked deflection wide left Ricardo stranded at his far post.
The introduction of substitute Martyn Waghorn rejuvenated Leicester with the former Sunderland striker making an immediate impact on the game.
In the 86th minute Waghorn drove the ball across goal past David James and into the path of Darius Vassell, but Steven Caulker’s last ditch challenge was enough to prevent the former England striker from finding the net.
Andy King header over in injury time appeared to be Leicester’s last chance, but moments later Martyn Waghorn latched onto a loose ball in the penalty area after Bristol City had struggled to clear and unleashed a fine volley on his right foot to find the back of the net in dramatic fashion.
The strike came in the second minute of stoppage time and although Leicester had certainly not been at their best - riding their luck at times - Waghorn’s pivotal goal was enough to give Sven’s men all three points and maintain their fine run of form in the league.
The Foxes are still unbeaten in 2011 and are now just one point behind sixth-placed Leeds United – an amazing turnaround since Sven-Goran Eriksson took charge of the club last October.
Man of the Match – Sol Bamba
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