Taking the Schmeichel!

Kasper Schmeichel's 91st minute penalty save enabled Leicester to hold onto all 3 points against Middlesborough and move into the automatic promotion places this evening. In the 70th minute, David Nugent scored the only goal of the game, a superb, instinctive finish from 15 yards out. Wood flicked the ball past the defender and Nugent got in front of his marker to hook the ball past the goalkeeper from a difficult angle. In truth, it was less than a half chance. By that point, Leicester had already struck the woodwork 3 times. Nugent also put the ball in the net on two further occasions, either side of his legitimate goal, but both were ruled out for off-side.  

Middlesborough may consider themselves a little unlucky. They certainly dominated possession, with 56% of the ball over the course of the match. They also matched Leicester's 17 attempts at goal. However, the Foxes looked more clinical and more likely to score than their opponents. At the back, Leicester limited Middlesborough to few clear cut opportunities and secured their 12th clean sheet of the season -more than any other Championship team. In their last 5 league games, the Foxes have conceded just 1 goal. City are hitting top form at just the right stage of the season and confidence is high. After 4 successive league wins, they may well have their sights on chasing down the 7 point gap between themselves and league leaders Cardiff.

Huge credit must go to the groundstaff who worked tirelessly for 12 hours to clear snow from the pitch, the stadium and the surrounding area. Just 8,585 fans made it to the King Power Stadium due to the horrendous weather conditions. The match was delayed for 15 minutes after the Middlesborough team coach took 2 hours to travel 2 miles from the team hotel. A number of Leicester players had to abandon their cars and jog to the stadium in order to arrive on time. Getting the game completed, and avoiding the inevitable fixture congestion that other teams will suffer over the winter period, may well assist Leicester's push for promotion. This will be even more relevant should City win at Huddersfield next weekend and progress to the 5th Round of the FA Cup.