November 05, (THEWILL) – Leicester City were held to a disappointing home draw with Spartak Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday evening, after a missed penalty by Jamie Vardy ensured the tie finished one goal apiece.
Spartak had taken the lead through ex-Nigerian international Victor Moses before Daniel Amartey equalised for his side.
With a quarter of an hour remaining, Moses went from hero to near sabotage when he brought down Ademola Lookman in the penalty area, giving the hosts a chance to win the game. However, Vardy was unable to convert the resulting spot kick.
The Foxes got off to a flying start on Thursday night, with Patson Daka and Ayoze Perez both having decent chances in the first ten minutes.
Boubakary Soumare’s tremendous drive from outside the penalty area cannoned off the upright, and the home side were incredibly unlucky not to grab the lead.
After that strong start, though, Leicester struggled to break down a tenacious Spartak Moscow defence for the remainder of the first half.
Then Victor Moses gave them a chance at the start of the second half. At the King Power Stadium, the former Chelsea star superbly headed home a Mikhail Ignatov cross from the right side to give Spartak a shock lead.
But, Leicester equalised five minutes later, thanks to Daniel Amartey. The centre-back nodded home at the back post after latching onto a flicked on corner kick from Youri Tielemans.
Following that, it was all Leicester, and they were stunned not to take the lead after Moses hauled down Ademola Lookman in the penalty area. In the 75th minute, substitute Jamie Vardy, who is typically lethal from the spot, saw a rather weak effort stopped by Aleksandr Selikhov.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s header was headed for the back of the net until it was stopped by his own teammate Kelechi Iheanacho five minutes later, as the home side drew even closer to scoring the winner. After blocking the header, Iheanacho went on to hit the post with his subsequent shot on goal but all to no avail.
Rodgers may look at this game as a two-point loss rather than a one-point gain, but his team is only a point behind Legia Warsaw in second place. Napoli, who lead the table with seven points, will play Leicester next, while Spartak is in last place with four.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
