Leicester vs West Brom match report: Esteban Cambiasso's unlucky own-goal sees Foxes woeful run continue
Leicester 0 West Bromwich Albion 1: Argentinian saw the ball cannon off him into the back of the net to give the Baggies the three points
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Your support makes all the difference.The heady excitement of that madcap 5-3 win over Manchester United six weeks ago is already a distant memory for Leicester City.
Nigel Pearson’s newly promoted side have taken just one point since then and the evidence of yesterday’s first home defeat of the campaign is that a long survival scrap awaits this winter.
It does not help fourth-bottom Leicester that luck has deserted them too, West Bromwich Albion claiming the points thanks to a freak Esteban Cambiasso own-goal two minutes into the second half. And just to make matters worse they could potentially lose central defender Marcin Wasilewski to a retrospective ban for violent conduct after the burly Polish centre-back swung an elbow into the face of Saido Berahino midway through the second period.
The evidence of the television replays was quite damning and Berahino himself looked incensed, although Alan Irvine, the Albion manager, did not condemn referee Stuart Attwell for missing the incident on his first top-flight outing since January 2012. “If I didn’t feel there was anything going on at the time I couldn’t have expected Stuart Attwell to see it as well,” said the Scot.
This was another satisfying afternoon for Irvine, whose team have won three and drawn two of their last six league fixtures, climbing to 10th place in the process.
Albion might have lost at Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup in midweek but they have found consistency in the league, not coincidentally since the impressively commanding Joleon Lescott took his place in their central defence.
If Lescott is now part of England’s past, a player who may earn his first national-team call-up this coming week, Berahino, did as much as any attacking player in a dull first half, testing Kasper Schmeichel from the edge of the box and, in the 40th minute, teeing up Chris Brunt (left) who drilled his shot over from 15 yards.
Berahino was then involved in the match’s decisive moment on the restart. He pulled the ball back from byline and Wes Morgan’s attempted headed clearance struck the legs of Cambiasso and rebounded into the net. “I am quite happy to take goals like that, though it was fortunate the way it went in,” said Irvine.
“When you consider Man United, Arsenal, Everton and Burnley have all come here and not won, it was always going to be a tough place to get a victory.”
Leicester have not been able to score in four of their last five matches and failed to take the few chances they did create in the second half. “You could argue we were slightly unlucky today,” said a frustrated Pearson. “We had a more solid performance but didn’t quite create enough clear-cut opportunities.”
Leicester (4-4-2): Schmeichel; De Laet, Wasilewski, Morgan, Konchesky; James, Cambiasso, King, Drinkwater (Powell, 81); Nugent (Ulloa, 68), Vardy (Wood, 81).
West Bromwich (4-4-1-1): Foster; Wisdom, Dawson, Lescott, Pocognoli (Gamboa, 90); Dorrans, Gardner, Morrison, Brunt; Sessegnon (Yacob, 82); Berahino (Anichebe, 88).
Referee: Stuart Attwell.
Man of the match: Lescott (West Bromwich)
Match rating: 5/10
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