Leicester City 2-2 Brighton live reaction
It was a brilliant start for Ruud van Nistelrooy on Tuesday night, but there was an acknowledgement that that sort of performance is not sustainable if Leicester City want to avoid a relegation battle.
While the scoreline read 3-1 in City's favour, West Ham had 31 attempts. Now, City face a much more dangerous opponent in high-flying Brighton. Improvements have to have been made over the past few days.
What might help City though, is that the Seagulls did not play their midweek fixture, a 3-1 loss to Fulham, until Thursday night, and so van Nistelrooy's men have had an extra two days to prepare.
We are live at the King Power Stadium to bring you updates, analysis and reaction. Kick-off is at 2pm, with team news expected at 12.45pm.
18:52Jordan Blackwell
We're heading off, but before we go, here's a few stories for you to read:
Our player ratings are here, with Vardy leading the wayVan Nistelrooy's reaction to the performance and to Vardy's "brilliant moment" is hereAn update on Ndidi can be found here, amid City's double blowAnd a rundown of the fixture for the relegation battlers can be found here17:22Jordan Blackwell
“We were realistic after the West Ham game. We were very effective in scoring three goals but we let West Ham in way too much. We acknowledged it. Today the performance was way better than Tuesday, in that sense. We controlled the game and put a lot of pressure on Brighton, who are one of the best footballing sides in this league. That’s a compliment to the team.
"We didn’t give a lot of chances away and scored another two goals. We got only one point today, with a better performance than Tuesday, but it’s a silly old game, isn’t it?”
17:20Jordan Blackwell
“Wilf, when he comes off you know there’s a problem. I hope it’s minor. He felt a slight strain in the hamstring. Hopefully it’s not too much. We’ll see how quick we can get him back.”
17:17Jordan Blackwell
“I complimented not only to come back from 2-0 down. I felt the performance of the second half permitted us scoring two goals. It did. I wasn’t too bothered with being 2-0 down in that sense. If they put a ball with the left foot in the top corner, what can you do? You say: ‘Lamptey, brilliant goal.’
“The other one was a counter-attack where we knew their qualities. We had a rest defence where we wanted it. There were no mistakes. If he makes a brilliant move, what can you do? I think the overall performance, focusing on how we want to play, buying into that, and giving everything physically and mentally to achieve it, that spirit I enjoyed.”
17:14Jordan Blackwell
“If you don’t pass, you have to score. He made sure we were going to get that equaliser. I think he felt we deserved that. If I would have passed it? I don’t know, I’ll have to look back at the goal.”
17:13Jordan Blackwell
“That was a brilliant moment. So late in the game, the 91st minute, when you have the calmness and the composure to decide on these things, that’s absolutely top class and we’re happy we have that in our team.”
17:12Jordan Blackwell
“If you're on the scoresheet and make an assist, then you have to say no, it wouldn’t. The performance of the whole team that put him in position.
"If I look back from the sidelines and relive the second goal, where we were pressing high, Skippy and Bouba jumped to their sixes, with the centre-backs following in, we won the duel, and played forward from there, and going for goal from the turnover. That’s where the ball ended up with Jamie.
"I liked that. I enjoyed that, the whole sequence. That’s why, as a team, we put him in the position there, and that’s where we want to put players who can make the difference for us. It can be Bilal, it can be Patson, it can be Jamie, it could be the wingers. These guys, we have to get them into position.”
17:06Jordan Blackwell
“Coming back from 2-0 down is a great show of character. But I have to say I enjoyed the second half of this team. From the first minute we walked out of that tunnel in the second half…
“We had to change the pressure. In the first half, the pressure didn’t work as we wanted. That’s what pushed us back. We didn’t create a lot in the first half because of this. From the back, with the goalkeeper a little higher up in the first phase, we improved from the West Ham game.
“But the second half, we got the pressure right, putting them under pressure, winning the duels in their half, keeping the ball and chasing the 1-1 over the whole of the second half, until the counter attack and the first break and the first big chance for Brighton in the second half. That was a blow.
“But the lads were focused on one thing. They got on with it, they got the performance going. They were investing in the game. You can see we have players with certain qualities, also coming off the bench, that can turn a game around quite quickly.
“When the crowd gets behind it… I thought the last free-kick with Stephy, I thought if that went in the place would explode completely. That said it all, that we were trying to win the game in the end.”
FTJordan Blackwell
Where did that come from?! An amazing result given where City were with 10 minutes to go.
They stay unbeaten under the new manager.
Reaction to come.
90+1 minKEY EVENT
De Cordova-Reid!
Mavididi wins the ball in the middle of the pitch, feeds a lovely pass to Vardy, who has the awareness to pass across the face of goal to De Cordova-Reid, who taps in his first City goal.
90 minJordan Blackwell
And City are piling on the pressure....
86 minKEY EVENT
Hang on a minute!
Skipp slips in a nice pass to De Cordova-Reid, his shot is blocked but it bounces up nicely for Vardy, who tucks it away first time on the volley.
Can they get an equaliser?
79 minKEY EVENT
And that should be game over.
A long ball is pumped forward as Brighton counter and it's a race between Brighton sub Minteh and Kristiansen.
It looks like Kristiansen does enough to hold him up, but Minteh twists and turns and eventually finds enough space in the box to get a shot away. It's into the bottom corner.
Daka and Faes are on for El Khannouss and Vestergaard.
73 minJordan Blackwell
City are on top and Brighton aren't really creating anything, but van Nistelrooy's men just aren't finding a route through at the moment.
Mavididi is trying to beat his men, but is struggling, while none of El Khannouss's more extravagant through balls are finding their targets either.
62 minJordan Blackwell
It's Mavididi and De Cordova-Reid on for McAteer and Ayew.
It's been end to end in the past few minutes. The momentum that City had at the start of the half has been lost, with the wind picking up too.
54 minJordan Blackwell
This has been a promising start to the second half for City.
Quick football around the box sees El Khannouss slip the ball into Vardy and only a block from van Hecke stops him getting a shot on target.
50 minJordan Blackwell
Brighton break down their left and Ndidi gets back to challenge Pedro, but loses the 50-50 and brings him down. Somehow, Attwell does not give Brighton a free-kick.
In any case, Ndidi is injured and it looks like he can't continue. Skipp is coming on.
46 minJordan Blackwell
There's no changes for City, but there is one for Brighton, with Wieffer on for Baleba.
There seemed to be plenty of chatter about wanting Ayew to be subbed off, and fans are already getting frustrated with him this half.
HTJordan Blackwell
The first half ends with a spell of City pressure as Kristiansen nearly finds Vardy with a low cross, and then a corner leads to an Ayew show that is blocked by Georginio.
That will give them hope going into the second period.
It's definitely been less exciting than the first half on Tuesday. City have been better defensively, despite conceding, but Brighton have been the better side.
43 minJordan Blackwell
It's great play from El Khannouss and Kristiansen down the City left and the Dane clips in an inviting cross.
Justin has ventured forward and meets it with a firm header, Verbruggen diving to his right to palm away.
That's City's best moment of the game.
37 minKEY EVENT
Hermansen is beaten and it's a wonderstrike from Lamptey.
A deep cross finds the Brighton right-back and he cuts back onto his left foot 20 yards from goal. It's poor defending from Ayew, who gives up far too much space, and Lamptey curls a sumptuous shot into the top corner with his weaker left foot.
35 minJordan Blackwell
That's a bad miss.
Kristiansen loses the ball as City try to play out frrom the back and Georginion swings in a ball that ends up at Ferguson's feet. It looks like he should shoot, but instead he offloads to Mitoma, who gets his finish all wrong and puts it over the bar.
That's the game's best chance.
28 minJordan Blackwell
Brighton have taken control of the game in the last 10 minutes and moving into the attacking half has been a more difficult job for City.
But defensively, they're looking much stronger than Tuesday. The game's been a lot less action-packed.
20 minJordan Blackwell
That's a rocket from Estupinan and it requires a superb save from Hermansen to keep it out.
Brighton switch play and Mitoma rolls the ball back for Estupinan, the left-back firing a fierce shot first time from 20 yards. It's heading to the top corner but Hermansen leaps up to parry away.
14 minJordan Blackwell
That's a huge opportunity.
Lamptey surges down the right and crosses deep. Justin has been dragged in to cover Ferguson and so Pedro is left unmarked at the back post. He goes for the first-time left-footed volley, but it's a couple of yards wide in the end.
And then there's another chance for Brighton on the break from a City corner. City do well to get numbers back and slow down the move, which ends with Ayari bending a shot into Hermansen's hands.
9 minJordan Blackwell
McAteer wins a free-kick 25 yards out and it's clipped in by Ayew. Some clever moment from City sees Justin meet the ball, but he's just stretching too much and can't direct the header.
He was unmarked, so it was a decent opportunity if he had a couple of extra inches.
5 minJordan Blackwell
It's Ayew on the left and El Khannouss in the middle when City are out of possession, but the Ghanaian is coming inside when City have the ball.
Meanwhile, there's a noticeable shift in how City are pressing, with Soumare coming forward to join the front four in closing down the Brighton defence when they try to play out from the back.
As for actions near the boxes, City had a handball shout against Estupinan, while the Brighton left-back had a shot from 25 yards that was well wide.
1 minJordan Blackwell
We are up and running at the King Power Stadium!
14:00Jordan Blackwell
The teams are out and kick-off is just around the corner here.
The rain is still coming down and it's a little blustery too. The conditions are nowhere near as bad as yesterday, but they're still not pleasant.
13:53Jordan Blackwell
If City are victorious today, they will leap three places in the table, above Palace, Everton and West Ham. They will also be just three point behind Man United.
But more importantly, if they win and Ipswich lose, they will be seven points clear of the bottom three. That feels significant.
