By Tim Hodges
Leicester City 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 0
The Albion finally lost their unbeaten record at the King Power Stadium.
In a hard-fought match the Seagulls, despite having a few clear-cut chances, were mostly second best to Leicester.
Darius Vassell and Jermaine Beckford were both a handful for the Albion defence, although it was full back Lee Peltier who put the ball in the net on the quarter hour, though the referee ruled it out for a push during the build up.
Soon after Albion keeper Casper Ankergren had to be alert as Lewis Dunk allowed Beckford in on goal. Gordon Greer also had a hand in clearing Albion’s lines.
At the other end Craig Noone played in Craig Mackail-Smith but his header was saved well by Kasper Schmeichel, whose father Peter was watching from the stands.
As the half wore on Sol Bamba forced Ankergren in to a fine save and Andy King also had a decent chance.
The Albion ended the half under the cosh.
Leicester started the second period much brighter than Albion and were ahead in less than a minute, Vassell scorching down the wing and crossing for Yuki Abe to steer the ball past Ankergren.
Almost immediately from the restart Noone nodded down a Marcos Painter cross for Mackail-Smith, who almost defied the law of physics by scooping the ball from almost underneath the crossbar.
Will Buckley then replaced Ashley Barnes and not long after entering the fray he played in Ryan Harley whose shot was blocked by a defender. The rebound fell again to Harley but again this was well blocked by the Leicester defence.
Kazenga LuaLua and Alan Navarro replaced Harley and Gary Dicker and the Albion tried hard to get the ball in to Barnes and Mackail-Smith but to no avail.
With ten minutes left Painter was sent off for a second yellow card after he handled. This effectively knocked any remaining wind out of Albion’s sails, except for Greer’s late goal-bound header from a Buckley corner, which hit Inigo Calderon then rebounded to safety.
It summed up Albion’s afternoon.
Albion: Ankergren; Calderon, Greer, Dunk, Painter; Bridcutt, Dicker, Harley; Noone, Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Subs: Brezovan, Vincelot, Navarro, Buckley, LuaLua
Leicester: Schmeichel; Peltier, Mills, Bamba, Konchesky; Wellens; Fernandes, King, Abe; Beckford, Vassell. Subs: Weale, Paintsil, Dyer, Danns, Schlupp.
Ref: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
