Crystal Palace vs Leicester City. Premier League.
Selhurst ParkAttendance25,480.
Report and highlights as Leicester leapfrog Chelsea to move to within two points of champions Manchester City
Monday 4 November 2019 06:23, UK
Second-half goals from Caglar Soyuncu and Jamie Vardy earned Leicester a 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace that saw them reclaim third spot in the Premier League.
Turkey international Soyuncu headed his first goal for the club on 57 minutes before Vardy's 10th league goal of the season wrapped up Leicester's seventh win in nine two minutes from time.
Palace had beaten Leicester home and away for the previous two seasons but Roy Hodgson's side were unable to build on last week's comeback at Arsenal as they slipped to back-to-back defeats at Selhurst Park for the first time since March.
Leicester travelled to south London looking to continue from where they had left off in their 9-0 demolition at Southampton, but a couple of early saves from the returning Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita prevented them from getting off to a flying start.
Harvey Barnes was denied inside five minutes before the Palace stopper thwarted Vardy from a tight angle at the end of a rapid Leicester counter that saw a deft Barnes flick and a sumptuous through ball from the outside of James Maddison's boot.
After a subdued start, Palace ended the first half strong as Kasper Schmeichel was forced into a save to deny former Foxes team-mate Jeffrey Schlupp's deflected effort from finding the back of the net.
Both sides improved after the break. Wilfried Zaha nearly marked his 300th Palace appearance with a goal, only for his low curler to flash wide of the target, before Guaita was forced into a reflex save to repel a bullet header from Jonny Evans.
But, from the resulting corner, Leicester capitalised on some poor Palace defending to take the lead. Patrick van Aanholt failed to deal with Maddison's whipped corner and diverted the ball into the path of Soyuncu, who stooped to head his first goal for the club past Guaita.
With the game opening up, Palace turned to Christian Benteke and Max Meyer from the bench to boost their bid for an equaliser, but it was Leicester's substitutions that proved telling as they secured the victory.
Demarai Gray came off the bench and brilliantly dummied a Youri Tielemans pass, allowing the ball to run through to Vardy, who played a telepathic one-two with the substitute before settling the contest with a crisp low finish.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson: "We worked hard and were certainly in the game up until the second goal. The game was relatively even but they scored two very good goals and, as a result, they deserved to win the game. Our defensive display was very good throughout and, on another day, we would have maybe not conceded and seen the game through to the end."
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers: "It's a big three points for us. We knew we had to be patient while trying to play with a tempo and defend very well, and we did all of those things. The players are very focused, they are fantastic in terms of how committed they are and how they want to learn and be better. We were defensively strong, focused and concentrated, and with the ball we showed some real quality as seen with the second goal."
Of all the goals scored in the Premier League this weekend, you'll struggle to find a more popular one than Caglar Soyuncu's first goal for Leicester.
The Turk has quietly gone about his business this season, filling the void left by Harry Maguire which such assuredness, but having gone under the radar this season his opener at Selhurst Park finally got him some well-deserved recognition from his team-mates, supporters and his manager.
"He defended very well, that's what he does," Rodgers said. "He's aggressive, attacks the ball and he's getting calmer with his defending all the time. With the ball he has quality, sees a pass and can play with both feet and how he has his first goal, which is great."
Crystal Palace travel to Chelsea on Saturday at 12.30pm before Leicester host Arsenal on Saturday Night Football, live from 5pm on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off 5.30pm.
