Leicester Pay a Heavy Penalty

Leicester lost their Championship play-off semi-final in the cruellest possible manner at Vicarage Road this afternoon. Going into the game with a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Leicester looked in control at half-time. David Nugent's header from a Matty James corner in the 19th minute cancelled out Vydra's spectacular opening goal for the home side. It was 1-1 at half-time, meaning that the Foxes were 2-1 up on aggregate. In truth, Leicester's second half performance was disappointing. They didn't keep possession of the ball for long enough periods and surrendered the initiative to Watford. With 15 minutes remaining, City were flagging and clinging on for extra time. To be honest, it seemed inevitable at that stage that the Hornets would win the tie.

Remarkably, in the 6th minute of injury time, Anthony Knockaert danced into the box, was felled by Cassetti and earned a penalty. The Frenchman stepped up to take the spot kick, knowing that if he found the back of the net, Leicester were on their way to Wembley for the £120 million match. Knockaert's penalty was saved by Almunia and pushed back into the Frenchman's path. His second effort was again saved by the Spaniard. What happened next was the cruellest possible finish to the game. Watford broke to the other end of the pitch and Troy Deeley smashed home the winner with 96 minutes and 44 seconds on the clock.  After a long, hard season of 53 games, City had been one kick away from their biggest victory in over a decade - such are the fine margins between success and failure in Championship football.

Though difficult at present, Foxes fans must put the defeat into perspective. Nigel Pearson has had two full Championship seasons in charge of Leicester City and has lead them into the play-offs on both occasions. These are City's 2 highest league finishes in the last 9 seasons. Incidentally, on both occasions, a Frenchman was arguably one kick away from taking the team to Wembley. There is the nucleus of a good squad at Leicester and overall, Pearson has made some good signings. In my view, he deserves another crack at promotion next season. It will take some time for the club to get over today's defeat. It will take even longer if the Foxes appoint yet another new manager.