Leicester v Cardiff Match Report

Leicester City held off a late comeback from Cardiff City to grind out a deserved 2-1 victory as they continued their push for a playoff spot.

The Foxes came into the game on the back of an away defeat to Brighton and were desperate for the three points against high flyers Cardiff to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The game started brightly as City dominated the early stages without causing Cardiff keeper David Marshall too many problems.

However, January signing Danny Drinkwater almost unlocked the City defence in the third minute has he whipped in a lovely ball from the left hand side which almost found its way through to in-form striker Jermaine Beckford.

The former Manchester United Midfielder impressed throughout the game with some fantastic distribution in the centre of the park as Leicester took control of the midfield suffocating the Cardiff strike force who fed on scraps all through the game.

For all their dominance Leicester couldn’t find that all important opener as Paul Gallagher spurned several good chances, most notably in the 10th minute as a delightful cross field ball from Paul Konchesky was met by Lee Peltier who cushioned a header into Gallagher’s path only for the attacker to drag his shot wide.

City continued to apply all the pressure in the winter sunshine and were finally rewarded five minutes before the half thanks to a Gallagher penalty.

A pile driver of an effort from left-back Konchesky forced a great stop from Marshall and the resulting corner caused absolute panic in the penalty area as substitute Fillip Kiss chopped down Richie Wellens to concede a concrete penalty.

Gallagher smashed his effort into the bottom left sending Marshall the wrong way as Leicester took a deserved lead.

However, Cardiff were almost straight back in it a minute from the half as a long ball found its way through to Scottish striker Kenny Miller whose beautifully delicate lob caught Foxes keeper Kasper Schmeichel out only for the goal to be flagged for offside.

The second half was much of the same with Cardiff struggling to really get going as Beckford continued to impress up front, threatening the City goal on a number of occasions.

But it was his strike partner David Nugent who came close to doubling Leicester’s lead as the ever present Drinkwater disposed Cardiff captain Peter Whittingham, sliding the ball into Lloyd Dyer. The winger then played in Nugent who found himself one-on-one with Marshall who made a great stop to keep City at bay.

Leicester did go two up in the 70^th minute as Gallagher got his second of the match with a sublime freekick from 25-yards out.

A quick counter attack led by Dyer allowed the winger to stride into space on the edge of the box only to be maliciously tripped from behind by Don Cowie.

The foul proved fatal as Gallagher curled a glorious freekick into the top right hand corner of the net to send the Leicester faithful into raptures.

Cardiff fought back late on as Schmeichel let the ball slip through his hands from a corner causing disarray in the Foxes box. Lee Peltier conceded the second penalty of the game as a result when he appeared to push half-time substitute Rudy Gestede in the back.

Captain Whittingham calmly placed his penalty down the centre but it wasn’t enough as Leicester held on to grab the three points and continue their fight for a playoff spot.