Leicester 2-1 Brentford: Stunning goals from Timothy Castagne and James Maddison move Foxes into top half

Stunning goals from Timothy Castagne and James Maddison gave Leicester a 2-1 home win over Brentford that lifts them into the top half of the Premier League table.

Castagne made a dream return after nearly three months out injured as he scored Leicester's opener with a thunderous strike (20) from just outside the box that arrowed into the top-right corner.

Thirteen minutes later, Maddison scored a wonderful curling 25-yard free-kick that beat Brentford goalkeeper David Raya in the opposite top corner.

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Brentford set up a nervy finish after Yoane Wissa hammered home from outside the box in the 85th minute.

But the Foxes held on to move up to 10th and are now level on points with Midlands rivals Aston Villa, who are above them on goal difference in ninth.

Meanwhile, Brentford remain eight points above the relegation zone with 18th-placed Watford having a game in hand on them, while 19th-placed Burnley have three games in hand on the Bees.

Castagne scores on return from injury

Leicester came into the game having lost their last two matches but were given a surprise boost before kick-off as Castagne made his return to the starting XI having last played in late December.

The Belgian, who had undergone thigh surgery, marked his comeback with a fine goal that left him in disbelief as he celebrated his first goal of the season.

Maddison then scored a stunner of his own as his wonderful free-kick saw him become Leicester's top scorer in all competitions this season with 13.

Kelechi Iheanacho should have made it 3-0 seven minutes into the second half but his chipped effort, when one-versus-one with Raya, clipped the outside of the post.

Brentford, who were without Christian Eriksen because of coronavirus, were much improved in the second half and Leicester needed goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to rescue them with a couple of fine saves in the space of six minutes.

First the skipper acrobatically tipped over Pontus Jansson's header (54) before denying Bryan Mbeumo's header (60) from point-blank range.

Castagne lasted 64 minutes and was replaced by another defender making his return from injury in Jonny Evans, who came on for his first appearance since December 12.

Schmeichel was eventually beaten but it needed a great strike from Wissa to break his resistance.

The goalkeeper appeared to be injured for the final few minutes as Brentford pushed for an equaliser but the away side could not find the goal that would have stretched their unbeaten run to three games.

Opta stats: Maddison becomes Leicester's PL free-kick king

• Leicester have won three of their last four Premier League games (L1), which is as many victories as they recorded across their previous 14 games in the competition (D4 L7).
• Brentford have lost eight of their last 11 games in the Premier League (W2 D1), while their only two victories in the
• Brentford have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 12 away games in the Premier League - the longest current run in the competition. Their last clean sheet on the road in the league was in September 2021, in a 2-0 win at Wolves.
• Since the start of the 2018-19 season - his first campaign with Leicester - James Maddison has scored more Premier League goals from outside the box than any other player (13), overtaking James Ward-Prowse (12) with today's strike.
• James Maddison scored his sixth direct free-kick goal in the Premier League, while no other player has scored more than one for Leicester in the competition.

Rodgers: Our mentality was really good

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Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers:

"We scored two excellent goals. We could've been a lot more comfortable in the game. I think our mentality was really good, off the back of a tough game in midweek.

"I thought some of our football at times was very, very good. Overall the mentality and the desire to win was great today.

"I'm just so happy to be getting these guys back now, the likes of Castagne, James Justin played his first 90 minutes, we'll have Wesley [Fofana] back after the international break, Jonny Evans coming back as well so it bodes really well for us."

Frank: We were beaten by two worldies

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Brentford head coach Thomas Frank:

"We didn't give a chance away in the first half. They decided to put it in the top corner on a free-kick by Maddison and a worldie by Castagne - he hits that one out of a 100, with all due respect to him.

"So if you want to win in the Premier League you need a team not to score two worldies.

"I'm very pleased with the second half. I thought we moved the ball quicker and we should've scored earlier to put even more pressure on Leicester.

"I said to the players we can feel a little bit hard done by by two worldies but, and the big but, is that we need to play with that edge and urgency that we did in the second half."

Man of the match - James Maddison

Maddison was always at the heart of Leicester's attacking play: he made the most passes in the final third (17), had the most shots on target (2) and won the most fouls (4) for the home side.

And of course, his superb free-kick goal also proved to be the winner for Leicester.

What's next?

After the international break, Leicester travel to Old Trafford to take on top-four chasing Manchester United on April 2 at 5.30pm in the Saturday Night Football, live on Sky Sports.

Live: SNF

On the same day, Brentford go to west London rivals Chelsea, with the game at Stamford Bridge kicking off at 3pm.

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