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Post by Football News on Oct 22, 2016 16:49:19 GMT
Leicester 3 - 1 C PalaceLeicester back on track as Shinji Okazaki shines in win over Crystal Palace Home team scorersAhmed Musa 42 Shinji Okazaki 63 Christian Fuchs 80 Away team scorersYohan Cabaye 85 This was much more like it from the champions. Leicester enjoyed their first Premier League win since mid-September and, in the process, rediscovered some of the verve of last season. The victory was all the sweeter because Crystal Palace briefly threatened to topple the hosts before Ahmed Musa, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs reaffirmed the order of things. The Nigerian Musa opened the scoring with his first goal for Leicester since joining from CSKA Moscow in the summer, and Okazaki wrapped up victory with his first league goals since March. Fuchs added an ornate bow in the form of a crisp half-volley into the net from 25 yards. Yohan Cabaye’s subsequent goal for Crystal Palace was nice and that will have to do for the visitors. Musa and Okazaki were the only two alterations that Ranieri made to the Leicester side that had edged closer to the Champions League knockout stages by beating FC Copenhagen on Tuesday. That match was Jamie Vardy’s ninth in a row without a goal for club and country but his demotion to the bench here in favour of Okazaki was attributed to a groin problem, though not one that prevented him from joining the action in the second half as a replacement for the excellent Islam Slimani. Musa started at right midfield instead of Marc Albrighton. A blunder by Steve Mandanda in the second minute gifted Okazaki a chance to open the scoring but his lob over the marooned goalkeeper from 20 yards dropped way wide. For a while it looked like that miss would be costly as Palace took charge and began to lord it over their hosts. Cabaye flashed a long-range shot inches wide in the sixth minute. Then Danny Simpson had to make a timely block to foil Wilfried Zaha after lovely work by the winger and Christian Benteke. The latter went even closer in the 12th minute, leaping over a motionless Robert Huth and sending a header against the crossbar after a delivery from the left by Martin Kelly. Leicester were reeling and the end of their year-long unbeaten home record in the league seemed nigh. But that was a humbling that the champions were not willing to accept. They started to assert their class, with Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater showing the way. Mahrez began to ridicule Kelly down the right, jinking and darting in a way that left the full-back flustered. Twice the Algerian danced past Kelly and supplied crosses that deserved to be turned into the net, then he tried to score himself, feinting one way before dashing in-field past Kelly and unleashing a shot towards the far corner. Okazaki meant to deviate it into the opposite corner but managed only to deflect it over the bar. Palace were now being stormed and they did not survive much longer. Musa started the breakthrough move by cutting in from the left wing and fizzing the ball to Slimani. The Algerian and Okazaki then outfought Palace’s defenders to prolong the move and tee up Musa for a shot from the edge of the area. Kelly could have blocked but was so distracted by the lurking Mahrez that he merely watched the Nigerian lash a shot into the net. Ranieri must have been worried after 20 minutes but by half-time he could be satisfied. He would have been even more so in the 48th minute if Slimani had scored with a diving header from a cross by Mahrez but instead a fine effort flew into the side netting. The brazen swagger with which Palace had attacked in the early stages had long since been replaced by defensive scrambling and the visitors were lucky that Okazaki reprieved them in the 58th minute with a bungled header after a cross from Mahrez. Okazaki showed no such mercy moments later when he thrashed a low shot into the net from the edge of the area after a desperate attempted clearance by Damien Delaney. Palace did not, however, surrender in front of the champions. Cabaye signalled their defiance with a close-range stab at goal but was thwarted by Kasper Schmeichel. Benteke then headed at goal following a corner but Simpson booted off the line. Benteke was busy at both ends and, moments later, thought he had done a useful job when he headed away a corner by Mahrez. But Fuchs ran on to the bouncing ball and walloped it into the net from way out. The win was merited but Ranieri was not about to start thinking that all the problems that have surfaced this season had been resolved. Cabaye proved the point by landing one solid punch for Palace, flicking the ball into the net from eight yards following a cross by Zaha. Guardian
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