Premier League: Leicester stuns Villa with comeback victory

Leicester City twice came from a goal down in a frenetic first half to eventually claim a valuable 4-2 victory at Aston Villa in a Premier League thriller on Saturday.

Published : Feb 04, 2023 22:49 IST

Philippe Coutinho of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his sides goal.
Philippe Coutinho of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his sides goal. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
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Philippe Coutinho of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his sides goal. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Leicester City twice came from a goal down in a frenetic first half to eventually claim a valuable 4-2 victory at Aston Villa in a Premier League thriller on Saturday.

It looked like another bleak day for out-of-form Leicester when Ollie Watkins gave Villa an early lead from close range.

James Maddison levelled soon afterwards but Leicester’s new signing Harry Souttar then scored into his own goal while trying to defend a low cross from Watkins.

But Leicester stunned its hosts with Kelechi Iheanacho heading past Emiliano Martinez in the 41st minute and then Tete marking his debut with a goal in first-half stoppage time after Villa carelessly conceded possession.

The second half was sedate by comparison but Villa did think it had levelled through Philippe Coutinho only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

Leicester wrapped up its first league win since November in the 79th minute when Dennis Praet latched on to a Harvey Barnes through ball.

Victory lifted Leicester to 21 points, three points above the bottom three, while Villa remain in 11th place with 28.

“We thoroughly deserved to win the game, were dangerous going forwards and it was an outstanding result,” Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said.

“Our four goals were fantastic, we were very creative and we could have had five or six.”

When Leicester beat West Ham United just before the World Cup it appeared its early-season problems were behind them. But it has slumped since the restart of the Premier League with one point from a possible 15.

Pressure was mounting on Rodgers, but his team responded impressively on Saturday - although it was a mixed day for their two debutants.

Villa went ahead in the ninth minute when Emiliano Buendia’s dipping shot struck the underside of the crossbar and Watkins was alert to volley in the rebound.

But three minutes later the hosts self-destructed when Boubacar Kamara lost possession and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall played the ball to Maddison to finish on his first start since that win over West Ham -- a game in which he injured his knee.

Villa got its noses back in front when Watkins crossed low across the face of goal and Leicester’s Souttar, signed from Stoke City on Tuesday, inadvertently put into his own goal.

Leicester hit back when Harvey Barnes played a dangerous ball into the area for Iheanacho to head home.

Kamara was at fault again in first-half stoppage time as he was robbed deep in his own half and Iheanacho played in Tete to go around Martinez to score.

Philippe Coutinho had a goal disallowed for offside as Villa pressed for an equaliser, but Leicester gave themselves a safety cushion when Praet was released by Barnes to score.

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