Full TimePosted at 90’+6′ Second Half ends, Leicester City 0, Bournemouth 1.Post updateAttempt missed. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Marc Albrighton with a cross.Post updateAttempt saved. Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ryan Christie.Post updateAttempt saved. Ryan Christie (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Philip Billing.Post updateFoul by Marc Albrighton (Leicester City).Post updateDavid Brooks (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.Post updateAttempt blocked. Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Marc Albrighton.Post updateAttempt blocked. Marc Albrighton (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Youri Tielemans.Post updateCorner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Daniel Amartey.Post updateAttempt blocked. Philip Billing (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by David Brooks.Post updateAttempt saved. Philip Billing (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jefferson Lerma.Post updateFoul by Marc Albrighton (Leicester City).Post updateJefferson Lerma (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Bournemouth moved out of the Premier League’s relegation zone with an impressive victory that piled more misery on beleaguered Leicester City. Philip Billing scored the winning goal in the first half, latching on to James Maddison’s shocking attempt at a backpass to coolly slot past Daniel Iversen. The Cherries were much the better side and should have added to their tally but Billing flicked the post with a free-kick in the early stages, while Iversen kept his side in it with a total of six saves.
Caretaker boss Adam Sadler saw his side create very few chances in the contest, but Maddison looked to make amends for his error but a fierce drive was tipped over by Neto. The seismic triumph for Bournemouth moved them up to 15th place and three points clear of the drop zone, while Leicester remain firmly in trouble, one place above the bottom and two points from safety.
Rare away triumph for Cherries
Both of these sides started the day in the bottom three and a relegation ‘six pointer’ went deservedly the way of Gary O’Neil’s men. The south coast side were sharper to the ball and peppered Iversen’s goal and although they only scored one, they came away with all three crucial points. Bournemouth’s form on the road has been rotten, losing eight of their last nine on their travels before this game, but victory saw them keep just their second clean sheet in 25 away games. They were given a gift for the only goal of the game, when Maddison’s blind pass got nowhere near Iversen, allowing Billing to intercept and score his seventh league goal of the season. The reliance on the Dane is evident, as either he or Solanke have scored or provided the assist for 11 of Bournemouth’s last 13 goals away from home.
The visiting supporters in their corner of the King Power serenaded the players with chants of ‘The reds are staying up’ at full-time, and they have given themselves real hope of doing just that. Wretched Leicester jeered off
This was a dismal showing from Leicester, who are bang in bother at the wrong end of the division and staring at relegation back to the Championship. That would have been unthinkable when they shocked the footballing world by winning the Premier League title seven years ago, but they now have a monumental task to preserve their top-flight status. They sacked manager Brendan Rodgers last Sunday but have lost both games under interim Sadler, and suffered a fourth consecutive home defeat as supporters loudly jeered the side at both half-time and the final whistle.
Leicester’s miserable run has seen them collect just eight points since Christmas, the worst total in the league, and a leaky defence has now gone 15 matches without a clean sheet. Maddison’s mistake proved fatal on this occasion and he was unable to conjure any magic to salvage anything from the game, while substitute Kelechi Iheanacho stabbed a shot from six yards out straight at Neto. Reports suggest former Leeds manager Jesse Marsch will be appointed soon, but on this evidence the American will have an enormous task on his hands to save the side if he does come in.
Player of the match Ryan Christie with an average of 8.40 was awarded for his performance for Bournemouth while Leicester City’s Daniel Iversen had an average rating of 4.74 for his efforts in goal. The Foxes had several players with ratings below 4, including James Maddison (4.44), Jamie Vardy (4.13), Timothy Castagne (4.01), Harvey Barnes (3.92), Alexander Kristiansen (3.92), Filip Benkovic (3.78), Kelechi Iheanacho (3.76), Ricardo Pereira (3.74), Wilfred Ndidi (3.67), Dennis Praet (3.39) and Daniel Amartey (3.64).
Bournemouth had some impressive performances with Ryan Christie leading the way with an average rating of 8.40, followed by Philip Billing (7.83), Rhian Brewster (7.77), Lewis Cook (7.72), Jack Tavernier (7.61), Chris Mepham (7.54), Neto (7.53), Steve Stephens (7.49), Dominic Solanke (7.40), Adam Smith (7.37), Jefferson Lerma (7.25), Jack Rothwell (7.23), Lloyd Kelly (7.11) and Sam Surridge (7.10).
The Cherries put in an impressive performance to move out of the relegation zone with an important win against Leicester City, who remain firmly in trouble at the wrong end of the table and facing relegation back to the Championship if they don’t turn things around soon. Ryan Christie was awarded player of the match for his performance while Daniel Iversen was Leicester’s best player with an average rating of 4.74, but several other players had ratings below 4 which shows how poor their performance was on this occasion. Bournemouth will be hoping they can continue their good form and stay up while Leicester will be hoping that Jesse Marsch can come in and save them if he is appointed soon as reports suggest he will be.