The dream is still approaching a reality for Leicester City as they claimed another three points after defeating Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park.
After some decent attacking chances for Crystal Palace they were hit on the counter by the Foxes. Marc Albrighton played in Jamie Vardy who found space because Joel Ward was caught out of position, before he put a pass across the box that found Riyad Mahrez. Mahrez put the ball past gloveman Wayne Hennessey in the Palace goal to take the lead in the 34th minute and that was where the score stayed for the rest of the match.
The Eagles did have some decent chances in the second half mostly coming through substitute Bakary Sako, but they were unable to make those chances count and their winless streak in the Premier League was extended to 13 league games.
With the international break next weekend Palace have a week to try and rectify the issues that have plagued the team since Christmas before taking on West Ham away from home, while Leicester will be looking to continue their unlikely title charge when they return home to face Southampton.
Crystal Palace
Wayne Hennessey – 6: Apart from the goal that he conceded looked quite comfortable in goal in his return from injury
Joel Ward – 5: Was at fault for the only goal of the game when he was caught out of position which gave Vardy the space to run into.
Scott Dann – 6: Had a good game against the hard working Okazaki not allowing him to much space in dangerous positions
Damien Delaney – 7: Made some really crucial interventions that prevent the score line from getting worse
Pape Souare – 3: It was an ill-disciplined performance from the left back who was booked and then substituted at half time to prevent him getting sent off again.
Wilfried Zaha – 5: Showed some attacking promise in the first half but once things started to go against him seemingly dropped his head and thus his performance fell with it.
Yohan Cabaye – 5: His poor form of late continued with failing to provide anything threatening from set pieces and produced too many turnovers from passes looking to go forward.
Mile Jedinak – 6: Made some key tackles that broke down the attack for Leicester which stopped them from getting further in front.
Joe Ledley – 5: Tried to provide some attacking options but was hardly used and also tried hard in defence up against a difficult task in Mahrez.
Yannick Bolasie – 6: Was too selfish at times in the first half taking shots when teammates where in better positions.
Emmanuel Adebayor – 4: Did not provided much in the first half before he seemingly picked up an injury and was replaced by Sako.
Substitutes
Bakary Sako – 7: Was by far Palace’s best attacker in the second half providing some really threating crosses but there was no one on the end of the crosses.
Martin Kelly – 6: Replaced Souare and made one crucial intervention on Mahrez which stopped him from breaking free.
Dwight Gayle – 5: Replaced Ledley and was unable to make too much of an impact on the game after being brought on late.
Leicester City
Kasper Schmeichel – 6: A well-deserved clean sheet after making some decent saves including a reflex save that stopped a Bolasie shot that was deflected when the score was 0-0.
Danny Simpson – 5: Had a relatively successful game against Bolasie when he was in the wide position.
Robert Huth – 6: Made some crucial blocks on Bolasie shots and also did not allow the Congolese winger too much a space in the box.
Wes Morgan – 6: Worked hard against Adebayor in the first half keeping him basically out of the game for the first half and then worked well against Bolasie in the second half.
Christian Fuchs – 6: Worked well in combination with Albrighton in the lead up to the first goal and then worked hard in defence up against Zaha.
Riyad Mahrez – 7: Was dangerous in the beginning of the first half before he had the ball played to him by Vardy for the only goal of the match.
Daniel Drinkwater – 6: Played a dangerous long throw into the box that found Okazaki and worked hard in the centre of the field the try and prevent quick attacks from Palace.
N’Golo Kante – 5: Made some decent attacking moves forward but on more than one occasion wasted the final pass and it broke down the attack.
Marc Albrighton – 6: Combined well early with Fuchs, played in Vardy in the lead up to the goal and put Okazaki through for a decent chance.
Shinji Okazaki – 7: Worked hard all game to put pressure on the Palace defence and then get some chances to get shots on goal but was unable to control.
Jamie Vardy – 7: Provided the assist for the only goal of the match after being played in by Albrighton but was unable to create any goal scoring chances for himself.
Substitutes
Leonardo Ulloa – 5: Came on to replace the hardworking Okazaki and was unable to really get into the game in the time that remained.
Jeffery Schlupp – 5: Replaced Mahrez late to offer more defence as they looked to secure the three points
Daniel Amertey – N/A: Had about two minutes on the field after coming on for Vardy.
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