Aston Villa squeezed past 10-man Leicester City late on as Unai Emery’s side move up to seventh in the Premier League table.
Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead but managerless Leicester (Brendan Rodgers left following their defeat at Crystal Palace at the weekend) were good value for their equalizer as Harvey Barnes made it 1-1 before the break.
In the second half Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was sent off for Leicester and Villa made the Foxes pay as substitute Bertrand Traore latched onto a loose ball and brilliantly swept home the winner from outside the box.
Late drama saw Leicester awarded a 92nd minute penalty kick for a foul on Patson Daka but VAR intervened and the penalty kick was chalked off, correctly, as Daka had fouled Watkins first.
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The win moves Villa on to 44 points for the season as they’ve won five of their last six and are pushing for European qualification. Leicester remain in the bottom three and have lost six of their last seven as they have 25 points and are two points from safety with nine games to go.
Well-oiled Villa punish feisty Foxes
Aston Villa have an aura about them right now and it is easy to understand why. With five wins from their last six they’ve catapulted themselves up the table and into the European conversation. Since arriving in November with Villa in a relegation scrap, Emery has built a solid base and there is now so much confidence in this team. The way they play the ball out of the back and build attacks is calm but with purpose and there seemed to be no doubt whatsoever from the Villa players they would win this one late on. As for Leicester, after the firing of Brendan Rodgers you have to fear for them. With no real replacement lined up, the Foxes are set for a mad scramble to stay up and all of a sudden they are in danger of being cut adrift from safety. This team should be in the top 10 of the Premier League and pushing for European qualification but right now they are being kicked while they are down and are making silly mistakes at pivotal moments which proves the pressure is getting to them as they are deep in an unexpected relegation scrap.
Stars of the show; Leicester vs Aston Villa player ratings
Ollie Watkins: Scored another goal away from home and never stopped running. Plus, his late block on Daka in the penalty kick incident was pivotal.
Emiliano Buendia: Dictated the tempo of the game and a lovely ball to Watkins for the opener.
What’s next?
Leicester host Bournemouth in a huge game on Saturday, April 8. Villa head to Nottingham Forest on the same day in another Midlands derby.
How to watch Leicester vs Aston Villa live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 2:45pm ET, TuesdayTV Channel: PeacockOnline: Stream via Peacock Premium
FULL TIME: Leicester 1-2 Aston Villa - What a dramatic end to this feisty Midlands derby as Villa go wild at the final whistle. Leicester’s players are devastated. They worked so hard for a point but just couldn’t hold on.
NO PENALTY KICK! Drama but it is the correct decision. Watkins was fouled first by Daka as Leicester tried to scramble the ball home. A penalty kick was initially awarded by the referee was asked to go to the pitch-side monitor and he overturned his decision.
VAR check on the penalty kick given to Leicester in the 92nd minute. Looked like Daka fouled Watkins first before he got to the ball.
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) April 4, 2023
GOALLL! What a finish by Bertrand Traore. Leicester can’t believe it. One poor giveaway and substitute Traore latched onto it and lobbed Iversen. Aston Villa go 2-1 up late on against 10-man Leicester.
BERTRAND TRAORE WHAT A STRIKE! 😍
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 4, 2023
📺; @peacock #MyPLMorning | #LEIAVL pic.twitter.com/F5wd0ltHDH
Can Leicester hold on!? Five minutes plus stoppage time to go and Villa are getting very frustrated.
SAVE! Great stop from Iversen down low as Watkins almost squeezes a shot home at the near post. Moments later Leon Bailey curls just wide. Villa pushing hard for this winner...
CHANCE! Jacob Ramsey slams a shot over from close range. Villa should be ahead late on. Unai Emery with a grimace on the sidelines. He knows that was a big chance wasted. Still 1-1. 15 minutes plus stoppage time to go.
RED CARD! Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been shown a second yellow card for a foul on Ashley Young and the Leicester academy product has been sent off. There was no need for him to leave his foot in like that. Leicester down to 10 men for the final 20 minutes.
POST! Alex Moreno hits the post from a tight angle as Villa have started to wrestle back control of this game.
Leicester hanging in there and working really hard. Villa have barely got going in this second half. Credit to the Foxes, who are digging really deep.
CLOSE! At one end Watkins flicks a header towards goal, while at the other end a cross just misses everyone and Martinez and Mings both look relieved.
HALF TIME: Leicester 1-1 Aston Villa - The hosts will be very happy with that first 45 minutes. They were the better team for most of that half and the fans are right behind them. Can the Foxes get ahead in the second half? They will have to be wary Villa on the counter.
SAVE! Barnes is running riot and his deflected shot looks like it is going in but Emiliano Martinez does superbly to readjust his foot and keep it out.
GOALLL! It has been all Villa since the goal but Harvey Barnes with a superb solo effort to make it 1-1. A long ball finds Barnes and he cuts inside and curls home a beauty. Leicester’s fans go wild.
GOALLL! Ollie Watkins puts Aston Villa 1-0 up at Leicester. Brilliant pass from Emiliano Buendia and Watkins has now scored in six-straight Premier League away games. Villa with a hammer blow to Leicester, who had started so well.
WHAT A CHANCE! A corner to the back post finds Souttar totally unmarked (with Watkins off with an injury) but he somehow heads wide. The Australian international can’t believe it.
Not much between these two early on. Leicester doing a lot of pressing out wide but Villa are pretty comfortable and looking to get the ball to Watkins as soon as possible.
We are underway at the KP! Lots of noise from the home fans as they try to get behind their managerless side.
Key storylines & in-form players to watch
Leicester were dominated at Crystal Palace at the weekend as they allowed 31 shots and the nature of their narrow defeat called time on Brendan Rodgers’ four years in charge. There are so many positives when you look back at his time in charge of Leicester but the only recent positive on the pitch has been James Maddison, who is doing all he can to try and drag Leicester away from the relegation zone. Defensively they have been all over the place this season and they just aren’t clinical enough in the final third. Are this group of players up for the relegation scrap? This is not what anybody connected with Leicester had in mind at the start of this season.
Villa could move up to sixth place with a win in this one and they are one of the form teams in the Premier League with four wins in their last five. Emery has them set up to defend as a unit and then spring counters with Ollie Watkins in phenomenal form as he set a club record for scoring in five-straight Premier League away games. This Villa side is settled and is exactly the type of team you would expect from Unai Emery.
Leicester team news, injuries, lineup
OUT: James Justin (achilles), Youri Tielemans (ankle), Jannik Vestergaard (undisclosed), Jonny Evans (undisclosed), Ryan Bertrand (knee)
Big game, here's our team 📝 🔵#LEIAVL pic.twitter.com/p9dQJg4VNx
— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 4, 2023
Aston Villa team news, injuries, lineup
OUT: Jed Steer (calf), Philippe Coutinho (thigh), Matty Cash (calf)
Your Aston Villa tonight. 👊 #LEIAVL pic.twitter.com/Yq8BtBxeZd
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 4, 2023
