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Post by Football News on Jan 2, 2016 17:35:04 GMT
Leicester 0 - 0 AFC BournemouthRiyad Mahrez’s missed penalty allows Bournemouth to frustrate Leicester Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez sees his penalty saved by Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc. After the feast comes the famine for Leicester City, whose momentum at the top has been checked after they failed to score for a third successive match on an afternoon of immense frustration for Claudio Ranieri and his players. Jamie Vardy was denied by the woodwork, Wes Morgan filed a contender for miss of the season and Riyad Mahrez picked a bad day for that wonderful left foot to let him down from the penalty spot. Simon Francis’ harsh dismissal for a professional foul on Vardy – the Bournemouth defender appeared to take the ball – granted Mahrez the chance to release the tension inside the King Power Stadium. Yet what followed was in keeping with the theme of the game as Mahrez indecisively stepped forward and swept his kick at a comfortable height for Artur Boruc to save. With Bournemouth down to 10 men, Leicester kept pouring forward but the goal would not come as Eddie Howe’s team, who had their moments earlier in the game, played with resilience and courage in the final half an hour. Ranieri tried his best to whip up the home supporters in the closing stages, yet Bournemouth refused to buckle and will view this as another valuable point in their pursuit of survival. Vardy was far from alone in squandering a great first-half chance, although Josh King and Dan Gosling did a better job of concealing their anger. The England international, who has now scored only once in his last six appearances, booted the same upright that his right-footed shot had just struck as he cursed his failure to convert a golden opportunity to put Leicester ahead. It was a chance that came about after the badly out-of-sorts Leonardo Ulloa had horribly miscued a shot from just outside the area. Vardy took a couple of touches to get the ball out of his feet and, with Boruc rushing off his line to narrow the angle, toe-poked a shot with considerable power on to the inside of the post. A look of disbelief came across the Leicester striker’s face as he tried to make sense of how the ball had stayed out. Bournemouth, in fairness, had two excellent chances of their own either side of that moment. In the 14th minute Francis’ deep cross from the right exposed Danny Simpson’s poor positioning and Junior Stanislas ran in behind the full-back to hook a left-footed volley across goal. Unmarked inside the six-yard box, King looked nailed on to score but somehow directed his free header wide. King’s pace troubled Leicester, however, and it was through that avenue that Bournemouth opened up the home team again later in the first half. Matt Ritchie’s clever pass released King in the inside-right channel and there was only going to be one winner in a straight race with Robert Huth. King sprinted past the Leicester centre-half, sat the German on his backside when he put on the brakes and then laid a perfectly-weighted cut-back into the path of Gosling. Twelve yards out and with the whole of the goal to aim at, Gosling scooped the ball over the bar. The profligacy in front of goal continued at the start of the second half. Vardy drew a decent save from Boruc with a low, curling right-footed shot that was turned around the post and from the corner that followed Morgan – the wrong man in the right place – inexplicably volleyed over from four yards out. Then came that contentious red card. With Bournemouth caught upfield, Drinkwater released Vardy and the forward, who timed his run perfectly, was bearing down on goal. Francis chased back and, stretching every sinew, made what looked like a superb tackle, with television replays confirming that the Bournemouth defender got the ball. Andre Marriner, however, pointed to the spot, brandished a straight red card and the responsibility fell to Mahrez to convert. Hesitating after he started his run up, the Algerian telegraphed his intentions and Boruc, diving to his left, made a fine save. Guardian
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