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It was a moment that required clear thought. As Leicester advanced into the later stages, desperately chasing the goal that would have put them a point behind Liverpool at the top of the table, control slipped away. As the minutes passed, they needed calm and ruthlessness: someone to pause, take a deep breath, and get through all that frantic and insane rush taking place near the Crystal Palace area.
Level through a Harvey Barnes bass record, Leicester had seven minutes to establish their title credentials. After failing to assert their dominance during a frustrating first half, they had responded after falling behind on Wilfried Zaha’s first goal for Crystal Palace. Roaring alongside their bench, they pinned Palace back, ran hard, and hunted down that one crucial opening.
However, the screams grew more anguished as the full time approached. Thoughts returned to the first half and Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guiata denying Leicester an early lead when he saved Kelechi Iheanacho’s tame penalty. Careless in the last third, Leicester ended up playing against the clock, rushing the last pass and finishing headlong, never more so than when Ayoze Pérez cut a magnificent chance in the fourth minute of added time.
Time ran out when Pérez’s hasty effort sailed. Without enough composure to capitalize on Liverpool’s slide against West Brom, Leicester ended up falling short despite beating Everton in second place. “We are disappointed with the result,” said Brendan Rodgers. “You have to take a chance.”
The demands of the holiday schedule also worked against Leicester, robbing them of a leading edge in attack. A situation that required Rodgers to make seven changes to the team that drew with Manchester United on Saturday felt deeply unsatisfying, underscoring the absurdity of asking elite athletes to play twice in the space of 48 hours.
However, if anyone benefited, perhaps it was the Palace defenders who saved the trouble of keeping up with Jamie Vardy during the opening period. With Rodgers determined to keep his team cool, Leicester rotated. Missing Timothy Castagne, Wesley Fofana and James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Wilfried Ndidi came out of midfield and there was a lack of cruelty in an attack led by Iheanacho.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been Vardy stepping forward to give Leicester a 17-minute lead after James Tomkins’ foul on Luke Thomas, who had caught Palace asleep with a surge from the left side. However, with Leicester’s top scorer on the bench, the tasks of shooting from point fell to a goalless striker in the league this season.
Iheanacho took a step up, tilting his run toward the ball in a way that betrayed his intentions. It wasn’t surprising to see him bring his effort to a decent height for Guiata, who put a strong hand on the ball.
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There would be more waste from Iheanacho when he headed from four yards. The wastefulness was ruining Leicester’s compound focus game. When Perez saw a deflected cross bounce off the bar, Dennis Praet fired. “If you watch the game for 90 minutes, I have to say I’m satisfied with the point,” Palace manager Roy Hodgson said.
Palace had made changes too, though perhaps that was more because Hodgson needed to shake his side after a worrying splash. Defeated 7-0 by Liverpool in their previous home game, it was terrible when they lost 3-0 to a 10-man Aston Villa on Saturday. Palace was content to sit down, although they did have a couple of starts before the break. Andros Townsend wasted the best of them, directing Jeffrey Schlupp’s cut wide, while replays showed that they should have taken a penalty in the first half after the VAR failed to review Daniel Amartey’s hand.
More intensity from Palace at the beginning of the second half. Zaha had struggled during the opening period, giving away the ball too cheaply, but he was still the player most likely to hurt Leicester. It was a different game once he started to find space to spin and dribble.
After 58 minutes, Zaha went deep, turned deftly and found Townsend on the right. Instead of backing up and admiring his pass, he kept moving. Townsend threw a left-handed inswinger and Zaha was rewarded for betting, slipping unnoticed towards the far post, perfectly positioned to receive the cross with a good volley.
However, Palace, who has not won in five games, could not hold out. Leicester finally introduced Vardy and Barnes provided the spark, playing for space before punching home from 18 yards. Emboldened, Leicester began the search for a winner, only for Perez to blur his lines. The prospect of a proper title race remains at stake.
