Leicester City vs Bournemouth. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance32,094.
Report and free match highlights as Leicester suffer their seventh league defeat in eight games and now sit two points from safety in the relegation zone; Philip Billing's first-half goal after a misplaced back pass from James Maddison enough for Bournemouth to climb to 15th in the table
Saturday 8 April 2023 19:24, UK
Philip Billing capitalised on a James Maddison error to clinch a 1-0 win for Bournemouth over relegation rivals Leicester, piling the pressure on the managerless side.
News emerged before kick-off that Leicester are in advanced talks with Jesse Marsch over replacing Brendan Rodgers, but it was first-team coaches Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell in charge for what proved to be the Foxes' seventh defeat in eight league games.
Leicester, who are now two points from safety in 19th, showed spirit in the second half after the introduction of Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka but fell short and lost Harvey Barnes to injury to add to their woes.
Bournemouth climb to 15th in the table with their third win in five and create a three-point gap between themselves and the drop zone with eight games of the season to go. Leicester, meanwhile, face a trip to champions Manchester City in their next league game on April 15, live on Sky Sports.
Bournemouth came close to opening the scoring inside five minutes as Billing's free-kick hit the outside of a post from the edge of the area. But Leicester looked the more dangerous in the early exchanges with Jamie Vardy close to connecting to Maddison's cross in the box.
The visitors grew into the game and quickly took control as their energetic midfield overpowered Leicester's. Dominic Solanke should have scored his sixth goal of the season after receiving the ball in the area, but he sent a left-footed strike wide.
Bournemouth were then gifted an opener after Maddison's back pass was picked up by Billing, who produced a composed finish to beat Daniel Iversen and give his side the lead. The goal was met with boos at the King Power Stadium from disgruntled Leicester fans.
Bournemouth had the bit between their teeth after the break as Daniel Amartey - preferred for this game ahead of Harry Souttar - struggled to cope with Billing and Solanke. Leicester relied heavily on goalkeeper Iversen as he produced a double save to keep out Chris Mepham and Jack Stephens.
Iversen was called into action again to deny Solanke from close range at an angle. But Leicester roared back into life when Iheanacho and Daka were brought on, with Maddison doing his best to redeem himself only to see his long-range strike denied by Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto.
Leicester's revival was short-lived, though, and Bournemouth slowed the game down to frustrate the hosts, who were greeted with more boos at full-time. Owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha was left scratching his chin after the game with a big decision hanging over him.
Leicester's Maddison told Sky Sports: "It was a really tough one to take. I'm very low as you can imagine.
"It was a big game, I'm not going to dress it up as anything else. We knew it was a massive game and one that we really wanted to win and we worked really hard this week to try and win.
"I made a sloppy mistake with a sloppy pass and it cost us. I tried as much as I could just to erase it to be honest and not do too much to make amends. Sometimes you can over try. I just tried to be the normal player that I am and contribute going forward but it wasn't to be today. It's sore.
"I'll be sad tonight and probably tomorrow, but as soon as we are back in on Monday we will be getting going again and preparing for another massive game next week. It's so important that we stay positive now.
"We will try and rally the troops and get going again. I apologise to the fans today, I thought they did everything they could to help us get back into the game.
"I thought they were brilliant and we are going to need them to be honest. It's not brilliant for us at the minute in terms of results and performances aren't quite there at the minute.
"So it's important that the supporters and the true supporters who love Leicester City and love coming to watch their team stick by us through the tough times because we are hurting just as much as them."
Leicester interim boss Adam Sadler told Sky Sports: "We're deeply disappointed - there's no getting away from that. You can see there's a lack of confidence in the team at the moment.
"We're in a fight, we've got eight games to go, we've got to stay together. That's ultimately the key bit, being ready for that fight and taking it to next week when we go to play Man City.
On Maddison's error, he said: "We're not here to talk about individual errors. We're a team, we've got to stay together, we've got to stay united. Things happen in the game, it was a set-back in the game. So be it.
"We had plenty of time to do something about that but we weren't able to do it on this occasion. He's a massive player for this football club, we've got a couple of days now to recover and we'll be back in on Tuesday to get back to work."
On Leicester's manager search, he added: "I can't speculate on future managers. All I've been asked to do is prepare the team with Mike Stowell as best we can. Until we hear otherwise we will continue to prepare for training next week."
Bournemouth head coach Gary O'Neil told Sky Sports: "It's a big win. Every win in the Premier League is a big win for us. We've had four in the last eight games now which is massive. They're not easy to come by at all. You work your socks off and find a way to win enough.
"[We're] relieved. It didn't need to be as close or as stressful as it was. Similar to Brighton, really, we should have been better with our chances.
"We should have been more clinical and the game should have been put to bed, but it wasn't.
"We showed in the first half that we can play some really good stuff but Leicester sort of started to come toward the end and we had to show a different side. We had to dig in because we haven't managed to convert enough of our chances to make the game safe.
"We showed that we could be resilient and that's a big clean sheet for us."
On Billing, he added: "He showed some calmness [for the goal], because it was a big chance, but you still need to finish it. He had some nice moments as well. I felt he had a big impact on the game.
"He's a great player and he had one of his better afternoons. He's had a great season for us. Eight games to go and we'll keep pushing him and keep trying to get a bit more out of him, as we will with all of them, and work on being a little more clinical."
Leicester face a daunting trip to Manchester City in their next fixture on Saturday April 15, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 5.30pm.
Bournemouth also face a tricky away match at Tottenham on Saturday with kick-off at 3pm.
April 15: Man City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
April 22: Wolves (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 25: Leeds (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm
May 1: Everton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 8: Fulham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Liverpool (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Newcastle (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: West Ham (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
April 15: Tottenham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 23: West Ham (H) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm
April 27: Southampton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm
April 30: Leeds (H) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm
May 6: Chelsea (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Crystal Palace (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Manchester United (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Everton (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
