Southampton held Leicester to a draw despite playing more than 80 minutes with 10 men to frustrate the Foxes in their push to clinch a top-four finish.
Jannick Vestergaard was dubiously shipped off after only 10 minutes when his tackle on Jamie Vardy was considered to have denied the Leicester striker an objective scoring opportunity.Vestergaard, on the edge of his crate and the last safeguard, got the ball with a thrusting tackle yet ref Robert Jones considered his finish to Vardy’s lower leg had forestalled the striker running in on goal.That choice set the game’s example, Leicester testing while Southampton protected profound, yet it was the Saints who started to lead the pack in the 61st minute.James Ward-Prowse scored from the punishment spot after Kelechi Iheanacho had impeded Stuart Armstrong’s work with his arm raised up by his head.Jonny Evans headed in Iheanacho’s cross eight minutes after the fact for the equalizer yet under close consistent pressing factor Southampton’s guard held firm.Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy splendidly denied Vardy with his correct boot from short proximity in the last 10 minutes.The point takes Leicester eight focuses clear of fifth-put West Ham having played a game all the more yet they have a troublesome finish of the period to come.Southampton edge 10 focuses clear of the assignment zone as they close in on ensuring their safety.The point takes Leicester nearer to their objective of getting Champions League football next season yet, having played against 10 men for such a long time, they ought to have finished the night with a 10-point pad over fifth place.Wilfried Ndidi hauled a shot wide from the edge of the case and Iheanacho verged on gathering Marc Albrighton’s cross in the end stages.Before Evans’ equalizer, nonetheless, they had made little regardless of overwhelming possession.With Southampton in a cautious attitude visiting chief Brendan Rodgers supplanted protector Wesley Fofana with forward Ayoze Perez at half-time however large numbers of his side’s 22 shots came from long distance.It was Iheanacho, who has been Leicester’s star in assault with 12 objectives in nine games, who absurdly shut down Armstrong’s shot with his arm raised for Southampton’s punishment. He did at any rate make up for himself with a fine left-footed cross for Evans’ equaliser.Leicester are as yet in an incredible situation for a main four completion however their droop toward the finish of last season, in addition to the reality they have excursions to Manchester United and Chelsea to come just as a game against Tottenham on the last day, implies Champions League capability isn’t yet certain.For Southampton this was a spirit boosting result arriving in a troublesome run that had seen them lose 12 of their previous 15 games.After the early loss of Vestergaard some may have dreaded a rehash of the 9-0 misfortune to Manchester United recently when they went a man down ahead of schedule – or the loss by Leicester last season by a similar scoreline.Instead, they created a praiseworthy cautious presentation that left chief Ralph Hasenhuttl apparently satisfied at full-time.Vestergaard’s red was unforgiving, with the middle back plainly connecting with the ball prior to getting Vardy, truly connecting with the striker’s ankle.It was considered by arbitrator Jones that his finish had forestalled Vardy running on to the redirected ball, a choice affirmed by the video colleague ref, yet Vestergaard’s touch had redirected it back towards goalkeeper McCarthy, who said a short time later he figured he would have arrived at the ball first.
Southampton are the main side to stay away from rout in a Premier League game when they had a man shipped off inside the initial 10 minutes since Leicester in March 2019 (2-1 win v Burnley, following a fourth-minute Harry Maguire excusal). Leicester scored only once from 22 shots against Southampton, subsequent to scoring nine objectives from 25 shots against them in this apparatus last season. Southampton have dropped a bigger number of focuses from winning situations than some other group in the Premier League this season (23). Leicester have neglected to win continuous Premier League away games interestingly since July 2020, when they were winless in their last eight away rounds of last season.James Ward-Prowse has been straightforwardly associated with 14 objectives in the Premier League this season (8 objectives, 6 helps), the most by a Southampton midfielder in a solitary mission since Dusan Tadic in 2015-16 (19). Jonny Evans has scored two objectives in his previous three Premier League appearances for Leicester, as numerous as he had in his past 95 games in the opposition. Leicester striker Jamie Vardy hasn’t scored in any of his previous eight away appearances in the Premier League – his longest flee games without scoring in the opposition since September 2016 – February 2017 (10). Jannik Vestergaard’s red card for Southampton (9:13) was the second-fastest shipping off in the Premier League this season, with the speediest likewise being by a Saints player recently (1:22 – Alexandre Jankewitz versus Manchester United in February).