Late Barnes Strike Secures A Point At Palace
Brendan Rodgers made seven changes to the starting XI which featured in both the 2-0 away win at Tottenham Hotspur on 20 December and the 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Boxing Day.
In came Daniel Amartey, Luke Thomas, Papy Mendy, Hamza Choudhury, Dennis Praet, Ayoze Pérez and Kelechi Iheanacho to tackle the Eagles, who also made five changes of their own.
Leicester started brightly after amassing the Club’s third-highest points tally after 15 matches of a Premier League season so far in 2020/21, 18 of which came from a possible 21 away from home.
The first real opportunity arrived on nine minutes as Pérez’s floated free-kick was nodded wide of the far post by Amartey, before Wilfried Zaha was then flagged for offside after breaking free of the defence.
Pérez, too, glanced a header wide before, in the 18th minute, James Tomkins felled Thomas in the penalty area and referee Graham Scott awarded Leicester’s 10th top-flight spot-kick of the campaign.
Up stepped Iheanacho from 12 yards, but Eagles ‘keeper Vicente Guaita delivered an impressive stop, to the Spaniard’s left-hand side, denying the Foxes an early lead in south London.
Zaha, meanwhile, had a brief opening moments later, forcing Amartey and Choudhury into evasive action, before Christian Benteke headed over from Andros Townsend's resulting corner.
Guaita’s crossbar was rattled midway through the first half as Pérez’s effort deflected off young full-back Tyrick Mitchell and onto the upright and then Praet hit the rebound over.
The Belgian was a key figure in City’s next advance as well as his cross was perfect for Iheanacho at the near post, but it came off the Nigeria international’s shoulder and flew wide of Guaita’s post.
Leicester were dominant, but they were unable to get a goal to show for it before the interval and Roy Hodgson’s Eagles emerged in the second period with a renewed attacking threat.
Zaha, though, was unable to hit the target from outside the area as the home side narrowed the arrears in the possession statistics and hurried Leicester's play in midfield.
They got their rewards, too, in the 58th minute as Townsend's cross landed perfectly onto the boot of Zaha, with the former Manchester United winger converting tidily to make it 1-0.
City were boosted by the introductions of Youri Tielemans and Jamie Vardy off the bench in the second period, and they were eventually followed onto the pitch by Demarai Gray.
The visitors will have been confident going into the latter moments at Selhurst Park having scored a division-high 10 goals in the final 15 minutes of their 15 Premier League matches beforehand.
With seven minutes to play, they struck late on again, as Barnes burst into a pocket of space and unleashed a low drive into the bottom corner to level the scores with his eighth goal in all competitions this term.
There were chances for Leicester to snatch a last-gasp winner as well, with Barnes, Gray and Pérez missing the target, while nobody was able to apply a touch to an inviting Tielemans corner in added time.
Major moment
City's record in the closing moments of games this term in the Premier League has been well documented and they added further credence to their reputation as a side who refuses to lie down in south London.
With seven minutes to go, as Palace dropped deep and looked to frustrate their visitors, Jonny Evans' header came to Harvey Barnes, who did the rest with a smart finish on the edge of the Eagles' area.
Who impressed?
Former Fox Dean Hammond, speaking on LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live, said: "There were some really good performances out there today. The obvious choice is Harvey Barnes. I thought [Papy] Mendy played very well, winning the ball back, and it was a very consistent performance from him. Luke Thomas played well as well, but I'd have to give it to Harvey because of the effect he had on the game with the equalising goal."
Where does it leave us?
The Foxes move up to second in the Premier League on 29 points from 16 matches, with a goal difference of +9. However, several teams around them are yet to play in gameweek 16.
Coming up…
City’s first outing of 2021 takes them to St. James’ Park to face Newcastle United on Sunday 3 January (2:15pm kick-off), before an Emirates FA Cup Third Round tie against Sky Bet Championship side Stoke City, at bet365 Stadium, on Saturday 9 January (3pm kick-off).
All times GMT.