Season Review: March

Gameday 31: 

Manchester City 2-0 Leicester City 

Wednesday 4 March. 2015 

Barclays Premier League 

Goals: Silva 45, Milner 88 

Attendance: 45,000 

Match Report: 

Leicester City slipped to a frustrating defeat at the hands of Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City in a close game at the Eithad Stadium on Wednesday evening. 

It was a goal from Spain international David Silva in first half stoppage time that opened the scoring on the night, as he reacted quickest to a rebound after seeing his initial effort blocked by Wes Morgan. 

The Foxes saw a number of penalty appeals waved away during the match, and went agonisingly close to equalising in the second half when Riyad Mahrez's half volley struck the upright. 

However their hopes of rescuing a point evaporated with just two minutes remaining, when substitute James Milner arrived in the box to turn in a Jesus Navas cross and seal a victory for the title-chasing hosts. 

Manager Reaction: 

“It was a disciplined performance but it was unfortunate timing for the first goal, when we gave the ball away at a time when really we should have seen the half out. Key moments haven’t gone our way tonight and that’s unfortunate for us. 

“When you come to places like this against a side that have got so much quality, then you have got to be at your best and we certainly gave them a run for their money again. It’s disappointing for us because we’ve played pretty well tonight, but things haven’t gone our way. 

“It (playing against a team that controls possession) means that everybody needs to play a part. Even our flair players have to accept that a big part of their job is to work for the team. On top of that we’ve still created some very promising situations. 

“We were all disappointed at half time, but it was about trying to stay with the game plan and try to keep ourselves in the game long enough so that we could make positive substitutions, and we did. We made three substitutions, which were all attacking and we continued to stretch them. Things didn’t go our way tonight but we move on.” 

League Position: 20 

Gameday 32: 

Leicester City 0-0 Hull City 

Saturday 14 March, 2015 

Barclays Premier League 

Attendance: 31,556 

Match Report: 

It was another frustrating afternoon for Leicester City at King Power Stadium as they were held to a goalless draw by Hull City in the Barclays Premier League. 

The Foxes missed the chance to close the gap between themselves and safety despite the opposition being reduced to 10 men in the second half when Tom Huddlestone was dismissed for a second yellow. 

Nikica Jelavic had missed a golden opportunity to put Hull ahead in the first half and, while City's high pressing game did yield some chances, they were unable to threaten as often as they would have liked. 

Huddlestone's foul on Jamie Vardy, coupled with an earlier offence against Esteban Cambiasso, saw him given him marching orders but, despite a host of attacking changes, Hull held Leicester at bay. 

Manager Reaction: 

“I would rather have lost it trying to win it if I’m honest. That’s really how we’ve got to go into the majority of the games going forward because we’re in the situation we’re in. 

“We’re going to have to take chances, but the players have got to commit to trying to win games, and I thought today we were a little bit too safe and that’s disappointing because for the most part we’ve been pretty creative and had a go at sides. 

“I’m disappointed because we’ve not created enough. Our attacking players unfortunately today didn’t really cause them enough problems, and that has been a major disappointment, because our creativity has been pretty good of late. 

“Jamie Vardy caused them problems, but really him apart we’ve not really done enough. When you play an attacking formation, that’s always disappointing.” 

League Position: 20 

Gameday 33: 

Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 Leicester City 

Saturday 21 March, 2015 

Barclays Premier League 

Goals: Vardy 38, Morgan 49, Nugent 90; Kane 6, 13, 64 pen, Schlupp og 85 

Attendance: 35,950 

Match Report: 

Leicester City were beaten 4-3 by Tottenham Hotspur in an enthralling Barclays Premier League encounter at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon. 

It was a nightmare start to the match for the Foxes, who found themselves 2-0 down after just 13 minutes to a Harry Kane double. The former City loanee converted Eric Dier's flick-on after three minutes, before adding a fortunate second when his shot took a huge deflection off Robert Huth to take it beyond a returning Kasper Schmeichel. 

City rallied, and did manage to draw level with a strike either side of the half. David Nugent set up Jamie Vardy for an excellent first-time finish on 38 minutes and then Wes Morgan headed them back onto level terms from a Matty James corner after the break. 

However with City on top, Spurs were awarded a hotly disputed penalty when Danny Rose was judged to have been fouled in the box by Nugent, allowing Kane the chance to complete his hat-trick - firing confidently into the bottom corner. 

The Foxes gave everything in pursuit of an equaliser but with five minutes remaining, Spurs restored their two-goal advantage when Schmeichel's save from Christian Eriksen came back off Jeff Schlupp and into the net. 

Nugent raised hopes of securing point when he calmly finished inside the near post in the final minute, but it wasn't to be for the Foxes as the home side held on for the victory. 

Manager Reaction: 

“It’s a very disappointing result for us because I think we deserved more. I don’t think we deserved to be on the receiving end of a defeat today. 

“To be 2-0 down after 13 minutes and really stretch one of the top sides away from home all the way to the end is a measure of the commitment that the players have shown today. To a man I thought they were really excellent in terms of how they went about trying to win the game. 

“Yes we made mistakes, but we didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down. The first one was a sloppy goal. Both of the opening goals had an element of misfortune in the sense that the first ball isn’t a great ball, it’s a lucky bounce and the second one got a huge deflection. 

“At that point things didn’t look great, but the players showed throughout the game that they’re capable of causing teams problems and I thought the front three were excellent in how they went about that. We got better as the game went on. 

“We’ve got to make sure that the level of commitment and desire that we showed today is there in every game between now and the end of the season.” 

League Position: 20 

Top Scorer: Jamie Vardy, Wes Morgan, David Nugent (1 goal) 

High Point: The return of Kasper Schmeichel to action against Tottenham Hotspur having spent three months out with a foot injury. 

Low Point: The 4-3 loss to Tottenham – courtesy of a deflection, an own goal and a penalty – left City seven points from safety.