Kasper Schmeichel denied Mohamed Salah from the penalty spot before substitute Ademola Lookman scored the winner to take all three points for Leicester City.
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Leicester City defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the Premier League fixture at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday. It was a frustrating night for Jurgen Kopp’s side as they failed to close the six-point gap to leaders Manchester City. Leicester captain Kasper Schmeichel denied Mohamed Salah from the penalty spot in the first half before Ademola Lookman put the hosts ahead close to the hour-mark. Klopp’s side created a decent number of chances but weren’t clinical in front of goal while Leicester registered just one shot on target and it made the goal.
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To a man, fantastic! ?
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— Leicester City (@LCFC) December 28, 2021
It was Liverpool who started the game with more intent and pushed forward whereas Leicester preferred to sit back and defend and hit the opposition on the counter-attacks. 13 minutes into the game, Wilfred Ndidi, who was deployed as a central defender caught Salah inside the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Salah stepped forward to take the penalty. Schmeichel was up to the challenge though, making a low diving save to his right to deny the Egyptian striker. Although the rebound fell to Salah, the Premier League top scorer could only manage to head against the crossbar. The 29-year-old had scored 15 consecutive Premier League penalties before this miss, a record only bettered by Matt Le Tissier.
Few minutes later, Schmeichel was called into action again to keep out Jordan Henderson’s header from Alex Oxlade Chamberlain’s cross. Just after the half-hour mark Salah was once again denied by Schmeichel. Meanwhile at the other end, Jamie Vardy played a one-two with Timothy Castagne on the right side of the penalty area, but his shot was well blocked by centre-back Joel Matip.
The visitors pushed hard for the goal, but Leicester’s defence stood firm to keep the clean sheet intact, going into the break. The second half also started with Liverpool making the first real move as Diogo Jota released Mane through on goal but the Senegal striker inexplicably fired his shot over the bar.
It proved costly, as just before the hour-mark, substitute Lookman made a neat turn to get past Trent Alexander-Arnold before exchanging passes with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, getting inside the box and beating Alisson Becker at the near post. The home crowd erupted.
In response, Klopp introduced more attacking players and pushed men forward. Virgil van Dijk’s effort from a late corner was saved by Schmeichel at the near post. The hosts held firm to earn three points. The win helped Brendan Rodgers’ side to 9th spot with 25 points from 18 games while Liverpool are placed at second spot with 41 points.
