Leicester Take A Point From Hull
After Mads Hermansen denied Fábio Carvalho from the penalty spot early on, the Tigers midfielder nevertheless did put the hosts ahead on 16 minutes. Vardy's 31st-minute spot-kick restored parity and, while Anass Zaroury fired Hull back in front on the hour, another Vardy leveller less than two minutes later sealed a point for the Foxes. It puts Enzo Maresca's men on 82 points with nine games to play, three more than second-placed Leeds United and four clear of Ipswich Town in third. Buoyed by Tuesday’s win at Sunderland, the first of four consecutive away games, there were two changes to the XI in Hull. In came Jannik Vestergaard from suspension, replacing Conor Coady, while James Justin was also back for Callum Doyle.
There was early drama in East Yorkshire. When Regan Slater galloped down the right flank, before long the Tigers man was on the edge of the box, inviting a challenge by Stephy Mavididi. There were questions in the away end concerning the foul and its location, but referee Samuel Barrott pointed straight to the penalty spot. Hermansen, though, has been a hugely reliable figure for Maresca’s men this term. Facing down Carvalho from 12 yards, the Dane dived to his right and made a strong stop to keep the score goalless. Although Leicester tried to capitalise, with Yunus Akgün blazing over, that spot-kick save merely delayed them going behind. In the 16th minute, Wout Faes was dispossessed at the back by Zaroury and the Moroccan was able to thread it through to Carvalho, who converted past Hermansen. Liam Rosenior's men have promotion ambitions of their own and in fact left King Power Stadium with all three points back in September. City knew this would be tough.
Leicester can ill afford to lose games between now and the end of the season and they were eager to get level as soon as possible. Vardy’s attempted lob of Hull goalkeeper Ryan Allsop missed the target. Moments later, however, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall went much closer, first spinning on the spot before rattling the base of the post from 20 yards out. The game’s second penalty would be their route back. A quick throw-in from Hamza Choudhury released Abdul Fatawu into the box, prompting Jean Michaël Seri to stick out a leg and bring the Ghanaian down. Up stepped Vardy, the Club’s top goalscorer this season at 37, to rifle home his 14th strike of 2023/24 into the top corner. Allsop managed to get a touch on it, but the power applied was enough to see it bulge the net and calm the nerves in the away end.
There was a little flurry of Leicester half-chances before the break too, with Vardy glancing a header wide before Justin also knocked over with his head. After an uneventful opening 15 minutes of the second half, it all burst into life on the hour. Zaroury’s low hit into the far corner from 18 yards put Hull back in front, but immediately from the restart, Leicester returned fire. Fatawu’s excellent through ball, skidding it through from the right flank, landed at Vardy’s feet in the box. City’s No.9, the Club’s third all-time top goalscorer, took a touch and belted it past Allsop – sparking jubilant celebrations among the 2,346-strong away contingent. He's now found the net in six of his last eight outings for the Foxes, including two braces.
Both sides had chances to win it. Hermansen got down well to halt Jaden Philogene’s effort from range. Faes then headed Mavididi’s free-kick straight at Allsop. It was getting tense and, inside the last 10 minutes, when the already-booked Seri obstructed Faes’ free-kick, the referee did not reach for a second yellow card, much to Vestergaard’s outrage. Inside nine additional minutes, substitute Patson Daka scuffed wide, before Faes fired over from distance. Leicester laid siege on Hull's goal as the clock ticked down, but the Tigers did just enough to cling on and frustrate the league leaders. City fans will have to wait until after the international break for more league action, with an Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Final at Chelsea next Sunday.