Leicester City 1 Brighton 0 - 23 October 2012

Sixth win in six leaves Foxes top of the league

Leicester City are now undefeated in seven league games

Leicester City maintained their position at the top of the Championship with a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton at the King Power Stadium.

In front of a home crowd of over 25,000, Andy King scored the only goal of the game ten minutes into the first-half after his initial shot was blocked inside the penalty area by Gordon Greer.

The visitors were awarded a second-half penalty when Zak Whitbread was adjudged to have brought down Will Buckley inside the area, but Ashley Barnes’ spot kick was well-saved by Foxes’ goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Barnes might have rescued a point for Brighton in stoppage time, but was unable to hit the target from the edge of the penalty area with plenty of time to settle his position before shooting.

It was Leicester’s sixth consecutive league win at the King Power Stadium, and seventh game unbeaten – an excellent run of form which has given the Foxes top spot in the Championship with one-quarter of the season played.

Nigel Pearson named an unchanged starting eleven from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Birmingham, and although Leicester began the first-half more tentatively than usual, they were ahead after just ten minutes after some excellent work by David Nugent on the left wing allowed him to break into the Brighton area and lay the ball off to Andy King, and although the midfielder’s shot was initially blocked, he made no mistake in finding the back of the net with the follow-up.

The early advantage seemed to trouble Brighton - especially defensively, as Gus Poyet’s side began misplacing passes under continual pressure from Leicester’s forward players.

Ritchie De Laet then broke into the Brighton penalty area and played a clever ball across goal to Andy King, but the Welshman was unable to add to his earlier goal, seeing his effort go way over the bar.

At the other end, Liam Bridcutt kept Kasper Schmeichel on his toes with a looping free-kick to the back post, forcing the Danish shot-stopper to tip the ball wide for a corner.

The ever-dangerous Anthony Knockaert then tested Tomasz Kuszczak with a shot from 20 yards, but the former Manchester United goalkeeper was equal to it.

Brighton began to increase tempo towards the end of the half, and could have been level when Craig Mackail-Smith latched on to Ritchie De Laet’s poor backpass, but Kasper Schmeichel was alert to make an important stop.

Mackail-Smith continued to try and cause the Foxes’ backline problems after the break with his pace and persistence, but in actual fact, Foxes captain Wes Morgan and Zak Whitbread were able to marshal the threat of Mackail-Smith for the majority of the game.

David Nugent then stung the palms of Tomasz Kuszczak with a powerful curling strike from the edge of the penalty area, but Brighton were given a glorious opportunity to draw level moments later when Zak Whitbread was adjudged to have upended Will Buckley inside the Leicester penalty area.

Ashley Barnes stepped up to take the spot-kick, but could not beat Kasper Schmeichel who guessed correctly – and although the rebound fell into the path of Barnes, the follow-up shot flew high over the crossbar, much to the relief of the Leicester fans.

Brighton seemed to lose momentum after the missed penalty, and Leicester could have doubled their advantage when Martyn Waghorn picked out Lloyd Dyer with a good cross into the Brighton eighteen-yard box, but the connecting header sailed wide of the left-hand post.

Paul Konchesky then had a shot beaten away by Tomasz Kuszczak, before substitute Jamie Vardy headed wide from inside the penalty area as the Foxes looked to tighten their grip on their opponents.

Andy King fired a shot across goal after Anthony Knockaert had done well to pick him out from the right-hand side, but dragged the ball inches wide of the Brighton goal.

For all of Leicester’s chances to put the game to bed, Ashley Barnes had a late chance to salvage a point for the visitors, but was unable to hit the target from the edge of the area despite having time and space to compose himself.

The final whistle blew, giving Leicester a narrow but deserved victory – one that keeps them top of the Championship for at least another few days.

Man of the Match – Wes Morgan

Leicester City 1 Brighton 0 - 17th September 2011

A second-half goal from Yuki Abe was enough to give Leicester City their second successive home win and end newly promoted Brighton’s undefeated start to the season.

The Japanese international rose well at the far post to head past Casper Ankergren just after half-time following some great hold-up play by Darius Vassell in what proved to be the decisive moment in the game.

Craig Mackail-Smith inexplicably volleyed over from six yards for the away side before Marcos Painter was sent off for a second bookable offence after handling the ball.

Both sides had chances to score but Leicester held on for the three points; a win which pushed them up to ninth in the Championship and subsequently knocked Brighton off the top of the table.

The Foxes have now won consecutive home games for the first time this season, and manager Sven Goran-Eriksson will have been delighted with his side’s work rate in the second-half.

It was Brighton who started the game strongly, however, and could have taken the lead through Craig Mackail-Smith, but his unmarked header fell straight into the hands of Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

But against the run of play, Leicester inexplicably had a goal disallowed when Lee Peltier fired past Ankergren – but Darius Vassell was adjudged by referee Graham Scott to have been fouled in the build-up, despite there being a clear advantage to the home side.

Paul Konchesky fired the subsequent free-kick into the wall but the passage of play seemed to spark Leicester into life, with Andy King’s fierce strike forcing Casper Ankergren to make a good diving save.

As the half progressed, Brighton looked the side more likely to break the deadlock – but five minutes before the break, Sol Bamba tested Ankergren with a downward header from Richie Wellens’ corner; the ball bouncing before the former Leeds shot stopper did enough to tip it over the bar.

Matt Mills also headed over and Andy King fired wide from 25 yards in a relatively forgettable first-half in which the hosts lacked any real creativity, although did match their counterparts in terms of solid defending.

Leicester were ahead less than a minute after the restart when Darius Vassell made space for himself on the left side, avoiding two Brighton defenders, before playing a fantastic ball to the back post where Yuki Abe was unmarked to fire home a strong header past the helpless Ankergren.

It was Abe’s first goal of the season in which he had featured irregularly to date, but wonderfully worked by the former England international Vassell and a fantastic start to the second-half for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men.

Brighton should have been level minutes later, however, when Ashley Barnes picked out team-mate Craig Mackail-Smith in the Leicester penalty area, but the front man somehow cleared the crossbar from less than six yards out.

New signing Jermaine Beckford had been kept quiet in the first-half, but began to impress in the second on 55 minutes by passing two Brighton players before setting up Gelson Fernandes, who fired over.

Beckford then tested Ankergren with a shot from distance to which the goalkeeper was equal, before Darius Vassell hit the side netting from a tight angle as Leicester pushed for a second goal.

Leicester continued to terrorise Brighton with their pace up front as Darius Vassell had another goal bound shot blocked, but Gus Poyet’s side nearly found a way back into the game when substitute Will Buckley picked out Ryan Harley just inside the Leicester penalty area – but Lee Peltier and Matt Mills did fantastically to thwart the midfielder’s efforts with two great blocks.

With ten minutes remaining, Brighton were then down to ten men when Marcos Painter received a second booking for a deliberate handball, which appeared to deflate the away side in their quest for an equaliser.

As time ran down, Jermaine Beckford fired over and Schmeichel parried away a dangerous cross by Kazenga LuaLua – but the home side held on comfortably to take an important three points.

Sven-Goran Eriksson will feel his side did enough to win the match against a side who had been flying so far this season, and will take confidence from the work ethic from all of his players to keep a clean sheet – Leicester’s first since the opening day of the season.

Man of the Match – Gelson Fernandes