Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance32,129.
Report and highlights as Mauricio Pochettino's side surrender lead again
Saturday 21 September 2019 18:47, UK
James Maddison's fine late strike saw Leicester come from behind to beat Tottenham 2-1 in a game filled with more VAR drama.
Maddison's powerful 25-yard effort settled a wonderful game of twists and turns at the King Power Stadium, which saw Spurs surrender the lead for the third time in four games.
Leicester thought they had scored the opener when Wilfred Ndidi bundled home after Paulo Gazzaniga's fumble, but VAR ruled it out for an offside, and minutes later Harry Kane put Spurs ahead with a superb finish, somehow hooking the ball past Kasper Schmeichel while falling to the ground from Caglar Soyuncu's shove.
After half-time, the visitors thought they had doubled their lead when Serge Aurier powered in a low effort from just outside the box before VAR again adjudged an offside in the build-up, and moments later Leicester equalised when Ricardo Pereira fired in a loose ball from 12 yards.
Both sides had enjoyed plenty of opportunities in a game which still threatened to go either way - but a moment of magic from Maddison would end up defining it, beating Gazzaniga from 25 yards with a fine finish five minutes from time.
A Spurs side much criticised by Mauricio Pochettino after their midweek draw at Olympiakos was much changed, too, with six faces restored to the line-up including Gazzaniga in goal, with Hugo Lloris away celebrating the birth of his new baby.
The Argentine stand-in's afternoon got off to the worst possible start when he fumbled Youri Tielemans' innocuous shot into the path of Ayoze Perez, before Ndidi took advantage of the ensuing melee to fire home. But he would be handed a reprieve by VAR, which ruled Perez had been marginally offside in the build-up.
In an already end-to-end game that ratcheted the atmosphere on and off the pitch up another notch, 14 minutes later Kane struck the opener when he somehow managed to steer the ball into the top corner despite falling under Coyuncu's challenge on the edge of the box.
Spurs thought they had doubled their advantage courtesy of Aurier's rocket of a first-time finish just after the hour, but VAR again had a part to play, and ruled Heung-Min Son had been ahead of the last Leicester defender when the attack first started.
That seemed to give Leicester extra belief and they levelled up five minutes later when Jamie Vardy's low cross deflected into Pereira's path, and he hammered it beyond Gazzaniga to finally put their pressure to good use.
With both sides pushing for a winner late on, it was Leicester who got it five minutes from time as Maddison took a touch to take the ball out of his feet 25 yards out and with his second, he fired just inside the near post to complete Leicester's comeback, and ensure Spurs were denied a first away Premier League win since January.
As well as scoring the late winner, Maddison's technical ability was a real problem for Spurs all afternoon. The visitors generally didn't defend too badly, but they were still often on the ropes given the tempo of Leicester's attacking play, with Maddison as integral to that as anyone.
Both sides are back in action in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, with Tottenham travelling to Colchester and Leicester visiting Luton. Both games kick-off at 7.45pm.
