Leicester survived an impressive onslaught from Leeds Utd at Elland Road this afternoon, to steal all three points with a late David Nugent goal. The victory, City's sixth consecutive league win, seemed unlikely after a first half in which Leeds should have been three or four goals up. Ross McCormack's sixth minute header, which rebounded off the post, set the tone for the first period of play. McCormack's clever chip over Schmeichel was headed off the line just a few minutes later and the Leeds striker almost curled a follow-up shot into the bottom corner. Varney then headed over from close range and it could have been 3-0 to Leeds inside 10 minutes. City's best chance of the first half came when Jamie Vardy's right footed shot struck the post early on.
Manager Nigel Pearson would have been pleased to get his side into the dressing room at the break with the score at 0-0. In truth, City improved as the match went on and displayed more control and composure in the second half. Debutant Kevin Phillips entered the fray with less than 20 minutes remaining and made a telling contribution. With just a few minutes left on the clock, Liam Moore crossed from the right flank and Phillips dummied the ball. It fell to Nugent, who flicked the ball towards goal. Nugent was the first to react to a fortunate rebound, poking the ball into the back of the net. It was a huge result for the Foxes, particularly as they withstood so much pressure from the home side and managed to ride their considerable luck.
Leicester now have as many points on the road as they managed in the whole of last season. They also have 18 league victories, one short of last season's tally. The pace that the Foxes are setting is relentless and it is hard to imagine that, if City maintain their form, both QPR and Burnley will be able to sustain their challenge for automatic promotion. Indeed, Burnley dropped points this afternoon and face QPR on 1st Feb. QPR's match against Sheffield Wednesday next week has been postponed due to the fourth round of the FA Cup. The lead over third place currently stands at six points for Leicester, they will be hoping to extend it further over the next few weeks. With their next 4 games against the teams in 13th, 17th, 16th and 15th respectively, this is the time for the Foxes to open up a commanding lead over their opponents. Things are looking up.
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