Jannick Vestergaard sent off early on in the match. James-Ward Prouse got the lead for Saints against the run of play, Leicester equalized seven minutes later courtesy of a Jonny Evans goal.
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Leicester City went to the St. Mary’s stadium with the hopes of strengthening their Champions League qualification chances. Despite Jannick Vestergaard being sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity for Jamie Vardy, Southampton took the lead. Jonny Evans equalized for the Foxes a few minutes later. After the controversial red card incident, the Saints defended deep and their goalkeeper Alex McCarthy made a number of superb saves to deny the Leicester attackers.
Southampton center back Vestergaard miss-controlled the ball near the penalty area and Jamie Vardy pounced on it. The Center back made a desperate tackle on the edge of the box to deny the Leicester striker. Despite getting the ball, his follow-through caught Vardy’s ankle. Referee Jones showed a straight red card and the VAR check did not overturn his decision. The Red card forced Southampton to go into a defensive mode.
10-man Southampton got the lead, against the run of play in the 61st minute. Stuart Armstrong’s attempt from just inside the penalty box was blocked by Kelechi Iheanacho’s arm. Referee pointed to the spot. James Warden-Prouse stepped up and converted the spot kick to make it 1-0 for Southampton.
Seven minutes later, Iheanacho redeemed himself with an inch-perfect left-footed cross for Jonny Evans to head in the equalizer for the Foxes. It was Evans’ second goal in last three Premier League games. Leicester pushed hard for the winner and Vardy was denied by McCarthy from close range. Leicester had the bulk of the ball possession (71 percent) and made 23 attempts, but did not manage to create too many goal-scoring opportunities.
The Southampton defense stood firm and the goalkeeper denied the Foxes whenever they got past the Saint’s defenders.
After the draw, Leicester has 63 points from 34 games. Five points above fourth-placed Chelsea, eight points above fifth-placed West Ham, both have a game in hand. The race for the Champions League qualification is becoming close
Brendan Rodgers side will next play Newcastle on May 8th, but after that they have three tough matches against fellow Champions League aspirants Man United, Chelsea and Tottenham.
Southampton are 10 points clear of the relegation zone after the gritty draw and will next play away to Liverpool on May 9th.
