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2020-21 English Premier League
  • Matej Vydra (4')
  • Kelechi Iheanacho (34')

Depleted Leicester City held to draw at Burnley

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Marcotti: Leicester should be worried about top four hopes (0:49)

Gab Marcotti thinks Leicester could miss out on a Champions League place if injuries keep going against them. (0:49)

Third-placed Leicester City were held to a 1-1 Premier League draw at Burnley on Wednesday after their Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho cancelled out Matej Vydra's opener.

Burnley grabbed a fourth-minute lead when Hamza Choudhury's poor pass back to Wilfred Ndidi was intercepted on the edge of the box by Vydra and the Czech striker blasted past Kasper Schmeichel for his first league goal of the season.

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Choudhury could have made quick amends when Timothy Castagne found him unmarked in the box but he struck the ball into the ground and Nick Pope was able to tip over.

Despite the absence of key creative players James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, Leicester were a threat going forward and got reward for their endeavours with an impressive equaliser in the 34th minute.

Ndidi floated a beautifully weighted ball towards Iheanacho in the area and the Nigeria's timing and technique was perfect as he volleyed past Pope.

Burnley, 15th in the table, had been poor in their 4-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday but had much more verve about them boosted by the return of Chris Wood to their attack.

The New Zealander, who had scored in his last three games against Leicester, his former club, forced Schmeichel into a superb diving save at the foot of the post with an angled header from a fine Matt Lowton cross.

Burnley midfielder Ashley Westwood struck the post with a drive from outside the box as Sean Dyche's side, still with a nervous eye on the relegation zone, searched for the full points.

Leicester also hit the woodwork with a Youri Tielemans shot, slightly deflected off Jack Cork, but Brendan Rodgers's side had to settle for the point.

"We didn't make a good start but showed the mentality of the players to come back into the game," the Leicester manager said.

"We didn't start the second half well but then I felt as the second half wore on we could go on and win the game and we nearly did."

Dyche was happy his team had shown the energy and defensive discipline for which they are known.

"It is pleasing in the sense of coming off a very tough game against Tottenham. Their keeper was arguably man of the match. I was really pleased with our approach play, it was much, much better," he said.

"Leicester are a good outfit despite having a number of injuries like ourselves. You can't be too greedy and the performance was important, getting back to what we are about."

English Premier League Standings

POS Team GP GD PTS
1 Manchester City 38 +61 89
2 Arsenal 38 +45 84
3 Manchester United 38 +15 75
4 Newcastle United 38 +35 71
5 Liverpool 38 +28 67
6 Brighton & Hove Albion 38 +19 62
7 Aston Villa 38 +5 61
8 Tottenham Hotspur 38 +7 60
9 Brentford 38 +12 59
10 Fulham 38 +2 52
11 Crystal Palace 38 -9 45
12 Chelsea 38 -9 44
13 Wolverhampton Wanderers 38 -27 41
14 West Ham United 38 -13 40
15 AFC Bournemouth 38 -34 39
16 Nottingham Forest 38 -30 38
17 Everton 38 -23 36
18 Leicester City 38 -17 34
19 Leeds United 38 -30 31
20 Southampton 38 -37 25