Leicester City 1-2 Fulham: Lookman and Cavaleiro deny Foxes chance to move to joint top

Fulham came out of the Premier League relegation places with an impressive win over Leicester that denied Brendan Rodgers’ side a share of first place.

Ivan Cavaleiro then corrected his missed penalty against Everton eight days ago with a safe shot, awarded after referee Simon Hooper reviewed Christian Fuchs’ input to Bobby Decordova-Reid on the field side monitor.

Leicester had previously hit the wood twice in quick succession when Wesley Fofana followed Youri Tielemans’ volley and crashed into the crossbar.

But the Foxes, as they did in their 3-0 loss to Liverpool, endured another frustrating night in attack until the late response from substitute Harvey Barnes secured a nervous finish for Scott Parker’s men.

Fulham’s second win of the season takes them two spots to 17th, while Leicester remains fourth and three points behind leader Tottenham.

Lookman, on loan from RB Leipzig, celebrated his goal by holding a Senegal shirt that had been hung in the visitors’ dressing room, in tribute to the former midfielder Papa Bouba Diop who died aged 42 on Sunday.

Fulham shows they are ready for the fight

A trip to King Power Stadium marked the beginning of a difficult streak of matches for Parker’s team, with a trip to Manchester City and a visit from Liverpool to come and encounters with five of the ‘big six’ in their next nine.

After successive defeats, this was going to be a tough match for a team with the worst defensive record in the league and just one win in 25 Premier League away games.

But Parker called for more intensity after his team allowed three goals in their loss to Everton, the fourth time they have conceded three or more in nine league games, and how his call was answered here.

The visitors were focused and well organized from the start, while Anguissa’s return brought calm to midfield.

Anguissa’s positive play and good passing from the court marked Lookman’s first goal, while the confused runs of England youth international Lookman caused problems for Leicester at half-time.

Cavaleiro’s coolness from the spot, following his unfortunate slip on his earlier failure, perhaps best typified a transformed display from Fulham.

The visitors took a much more defensive approach in the second half in an attempt to keep Leicester at bay, but, after Schmeichel rejected Lookman point-blank with 15 minutes to go, Parker’s men successfully withstood a late barrage. to leave with three excellent points. .

Leicester below average misses

Brighton’s goalless draw in stoppage time against Liverpool and Tottenham’s goalless draw with Chelsea over the weekend gave Leicester a chance to keep up the pace at the top and leave behind a disappointing display at Anfield. .

However, a late burst wasn’t enough to undo the damage of an uninspiring performance in the first half.

Rodgers ‘team had to wait until the 19th minute for their first goal attempts, but Fofana lacked composure after he was quicker to react to Tielemans’ sweet volley from the edge of the penalty area.

Starved for supply against Liverpool, last season’s Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy fought the Londoners again, touching the ball only once in the first 25 minutes at King Power Stadium.

Vardy, whose last-gasp draw against Braga on Thursday secured qualification for the Europa League round of 16 with two games to spare, pulled off a clever move from a Dennis Praet center to put Alphonse Areola into action, but it was a rare opportunity for hosts.

After Vardy’s header set Barnes up, substitute Kelechi Iheanacho twice had a blocked shot in a desperate final effort for the tie, but now it’s successive league losses for the Foxes.

‘A big win’ – what the managers said

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers speaking to Sky Sports: “It was a disappointing first half for us. We weren’t very good in our counterattack. We made mistakes in our defensive moments and in this league, if you give away chances, it can be very difficult.

“In the second half, we were a little better but we didn’t show enough creativity. Fulham deserved to win, they punished us and we weren’t good enough to bring them down. We are a young team and we had something.” very good performances. Afternoons like this show the youth of the team and we still have work to do. “

Fulham boss Scott Parker speaking to Sky Sports: “I am delighted with the efforts of the team. Where we are at, we are judged by our results. It was a show of battle, some great performances and some real quality too.”

“We are a bit disappointed with the goal, but in the second half we knew we would be under a bit of pressure, but we have to enjoy it. Our last six or seven games have been positive. It’s a great win for us. We have to keep pushing and We will continue in the right direction. “

Fulham Love Mondays – the statistics

• Fulham beat a team that started the day in the top four of the Premier League for the first time since March 2013, having lost 14 of their last 15.
• His two Premier League wins this season came on Monday. In fact, the Cottagers have won five of their last seven games in the top flight on a Monday.
• Fulham have lost just one of their seven Premier League games against Leicester.
• Leicester have lost consecutive Premier League games against teams starting the day in the relegation zone for the first time since November 2014.
• This was Foxes coach Brendan Rodgers’ first loss as coach to Fulham in the Premier League, after winning each of his previous seven.
• Ivan Cavaleiro became the first player to score a Premier League penalty for Fulham since Aleksandar Mitrovic against Leeds in September. The Londoners had missed each of their previous three in the competition.

Whats Next?

Following their penultimate match of the Europa League group stage against Zorya Luhansk in Ukraine on Thursday (17:55 GMT), Leicester visit Sheffield United on Sunday (14:15).

Fulham have four days to regroup before traveling to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon (3pm).