Leicester City vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
The King Power Stadium.
Report as Leicester ease past Brighton at the King Power Stadium; James Maddison's double and a Jamie Vardy strike sealed victory; Leicester move up to third, one point behind league leaders Tottenham; Brighton stay 16th
Monday 14 December 2020 06:19, UK
Leicester City moved to within one point of the Premier League summit after a comprehensive 3-0 victory against Brighton.
James Maddison's deflected strike (27) sent Brendan Rodgers' side on their way before Jamie Vardy (41) scored his 12th goal of the season to double the advantage.
Maddison (44) rubber-stamped Leicester's dominance just before the break with a stunning strike into the top corner, and they were rarely troubled by Brighton as they eased to victory in the second half.
The win sees Leicester move up to third, one point behind league leaders Tottenham and Liverpool in second. Defeat leaves Brighton 16th, two points clear of the relegation places.
An open start to the match saw good chances at both ends, with Kasper Schmeichel blocking Alireza Jahanbakhsh's effort before the Leicester goalkeeper made another fine save with his leg when Danny Welbeck was through one-on-one.
At the other end, Vardy struck the post from an incredibly tight angle before Leicester eventually took the lead in the 27th minute.
James Justin's cross eluded Vardy but the ball dropped kindly for Maddison, whose shot took a deflection past Mathew Ryan.
The hosts doubled their lead through Vardy, who was on hand to tap home Justin's excellent low cross from close range, and his 12th goal of the season survived a VAR check for offside.
Brighton had no answer to Rodgers' side and Maddison made it 3-0 just before half-time, twisting and turning inside the penalty area before curling a stunning strike into the top corner of the net.
The second half lacked the urgency of the first as Brighton perhaps went into damage limitation mode and Leicester sat on their three-goal cushion.
Neal Maupay's looped shot after an hour provided some easy work for Schmeichel while at the other end Ryan was called into more pressing action to deny Christian Fuchs' powerful strike.
Ndidi's driven effort cleared the crossbar late on and there were no further goals at the King Power Stadium, with Leicester doing all the damage in the first half.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers: "We knew this would be a real test. I enjoyed the game from a technical perspective. Graham Potter sets his teams up well. We were surprised and had to change after 20 minutes. With a bit more quality we could have scored one or two more. But overall we're delighted with the performance and the result.
"Still lots to improve. We've got a lot of young players playing and they're a joy to work with. The table is starting to take shape."
Brighton boss Graham Potter: "Disappointing. The box is where it matters and Leicester were better than us. We stuck at it in the second half but clearly over the course of the 90 minutes not good enough to get something from the game.
"In the end they were a little bit too good for us and sometimes that happens. That is our 12th game, we are quite early on in the season so we have a lot of time but we know we are fighting to improve, fighting for points. We are going to keep humble and keep going."
Leicester City forward James Maddison:
"That was really good, we wanted to have a good start. There have been a few games where we have not got off to a quick enough start and that is something we were looking to improve on."
Leicester host Everton in the Premier League on Wednesday; kick-off 6pm.
Meanwhile, Brighton travel to Fulham, also on Wednesday; kick off 8pm.
Save over 25% when you buy a NOW TV Sky Sports Pass for just £25 a month. Cancel anytime.
