Foxes in Seventh Heaven

Leicester City 2 - 0 Middlesborough

Second half goals from Jamie Vardy and Ritchie De Laet equalled a club record seventh consecutive league win for the Foxes against in-form Middlesborough this afternoon. Leicester now have as many league wins - 19 - as they managed in the whole of last season. With QPR and Burnley not in league action today, the victory also moves the Foxes eight points clear of the pack and onto an incredible 60 points. To put their form into context, you have to go back to the 2005-06 season to find the last time that a Championship team broke the 60 point barrier by the 27 game mark. That season, Reading racked up 106 points - the record at this level since the football league moved to 46 game seasons 23 years ago. It is a relentless and remarkable pace that Leicester are setting - one that other clubs are struggling to live with.

Today's match had promised much but failed to live up to expectations due to the horrendous playing conditions in the first half. Minutes before kick-off, an intense hail storm left the playing surface patchy in places and under water in others. Both sides struggled to adapt and there were few scoring opportunities in the first half. Sadly, the only incident of note was a nasty injury to Liam Moore very early in the game. He slid in at the far past to try and connect with an Anthony Knockaert free-kick and collided with the post. Minutes later he was substituted and went to hospital for an X-ray on suspected broken ribs. That would be a huge blow to the Foxes - with Miguel and St. Ledger both injured, and Whitbread on loan at Derby, City are short of defensive cover.

By the second half, the weather conditions had eased and much of the surface water had drained away. As a result, Leicester were increasingly able to impose their style of the play on their opponents. In the 53rd minute, new Middlesborough signing Daniel Ayala tried to see the ball out of play on his own goal line. David Nugent harried the defender, outmuscled him and squared the ball to Jamie Vardy, who fired the ball into the net with his right foot. Middlesborough were adamant that the ball had crossed the line and they may have had some justification - however, it was a poor decision from the defender given the state of the pitch and he should have made sure. In the 71st minute, Rhys Williams brought down the waspish Jamie Vardy to give City yet another penalty. However, Nugent's effort was poor and the goalkeeper pushed the ball away. 

Fortunately, the miss wasn't to cost the hosts as, just two minutes later, City struck again. Vardy, who is emerging as a leading candidate for player of the season, chased another lost cause into the corner. A cynical shove off the ball from Williams sent Vardy tumbling into the advertising hoardings. From the resulting free kick, De Laet headed home at the far post and the points were secure. Mahrez and Phillips both made cameo appearances late on and the Algerian wide player almost scored, forcing a good save from Shay Given. Leicester travel to Birmingham on Tuesday night looking for a club record eighth consecutive league win - few would bet against them. If they manage it, they will have a 12 point cushion over third place with just 18 games of the season remaining. Dare to dream?