A second half goal from David Nugent moved the Foxes to within one win of the Championship league title this afternoon. City are seven clear of Burnley and, even if the Clarets win all of their three remaining games, Leicester will need just three points from their final three games to be crowned Champions. 100 points will also be a target for Nigel Pearson's men - a tally they can still reach with 2 wins and a draw. In truth, QPR will be disappointed not to have taken something from today's game as they created the best opportunities in the match. Kranjcar and Maiga both forced Schmeichel to make saves in the first quarter of the game before the Dane came to the rescue again in a 33rd minute goalmouth scramble. King came close to putting Leicester ahead in the 37th minute as he rounded the goalkeeper after a defensive error - the Welshman's effort was cleared off the line by Onuoha. Maiga and Knockaert both had good opportunities in first half stoppage time but neither could break the deadlock.
The start of the second half was a cagey affair with both teams struggling to create goal scoring opportunities. It took until the 67th minute for the hosts to produce the only goal of the game. Nugent showed an excellent turn of pace after Drinkwater's through ball and crashed a superb shot past the keeper at the near post for his 19th league goal of the season. The striker is on the brink of becoming Leicester's first scorer of 20 league goals in a season at this level since Gary Lineker - a fabulous achievement if he can find the net once more in the final 3 games. Assou-Ekotto was sent off in the 78th minute for a second bookable offence and Leicester were able to see the game out. It wasn't City's greatest performance of the season but results are all that count at this stage. With injuries to Vardy and James, promotion already sealed and an experimental formation, victory against the fourth placed team in the league is not to be underestimated, even with the remarkable season that Leicester have had.
Interestingly, with Vardy out injured, Pearson chose to play a 4-2-3-1 formation - a setup that many Premier League teams adopt. Drinkwater and Hammond sat in front of the defence and Mahrez, King and Knockaert played behind Nugent. It may well be a formation we see more of from City as they begin their assault on the Premier League next season.
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