Leicester City came from behind to defeat Brighton 2–1 on Saturday to come second in the Premier League, while Arsenal now look top-four prospects after being captured 1–1 by Burnley. Undeterred by a series of injuries to key players, Leicester have seen fatigue in recent weeks and fell after 10 minutes when Adam Lallana scored his first Brighton goal. Seagal has made a habit of dominating the game without counting and has once again paid for failing to take his lead as Lallana did the woodwork and Neil Maupe scored a goal that went upside down.
Leicester looked lifeless for the first 45 minutes without James Madison and Harvey Barnes, but they bounced back after the break after their first win in four games.
“The first half we were not good enough, we didn’t push the game well and pass it well,” Leicester boss Brenders Rodgers said.
“The second half I thought we were fantastic. We stopped playing them, then we showed our quality. By the end we were entitled to victory.”
A brilliant pass from Yuri Tielemans protected the home defense for Kelichi Ihnacho to equalize on 62 minutes.
Caspar Schmeichel refused to save Llana again before an error in goalkeeping following the Rodlazers’ crucial win at the other end.
Robert Sanchez went to Mark Albrighton’s corner and Daniel Amarte headed into the non-controlled net.
Leicester now have a seven-point cushion over fifth-placed Everton as they aimed not to make the same mistake as last season when they were knocked out of the top four at the commercial end of the campaign.
In the fifth game without a win, Brighton are still just three points above the charge zone.
‘Anything can happen’
Arsenal’s best hope of returning to the Champions League for the first time in five years is now in winning the Europa League after sliding two more points over Turf Moor.
Mikel Arteta’s men remain in 10th place, scoring nine points from the top four and are sure to rise on Sunday when the fourth plays fifth as does Chelsea over Everton.
Arsenal could not have asked for a better start as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took his 14th goal of the season after just six minutes, taking advantage of some sluggish defense and slow reaction from England goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Granite Xhaka was foolishly sent off when last met in December amid a run of one win in 10 matches that gave Arsenal a mountain to climb to regain in the race for a European spot.
The Swiss midfielder had another afternoon as he had been forgotten for half an hour six minutes earlier and threw the ball into Chris Wood’s midiff and the ball reached the net from the New Zealand striker’s side.
“If you are giving something to an opponent then anything can happen,” Arteta said. “This is where we have the biggest margin for improvement.”
Saints breathed a sigh of relief
Southampton ended the nine-game winning run, ready to beat Sheffield United 2–0, 10 points away from the rebranded zone.
Ralph Hasenhuttle’s men topped the table in November, but a score out of a possible 27 saw them on their shoulders.
However, the championship-bound Blade proved the right opponents as a James Ward-Prowess penalty for Southampton and Che Adams first goal in 17 matches led to a long-awaited victory.
Promoted
Aston Villa’s unexpected challenge to the top four is also faltering as they gain a seven-point lead to ninth-placed Chelsea following a 0–0 draw with Woveas.
Villa again lacked the creativity of injured captain Jack Grealish as it was Wolfe who came closest to the winner twice through his captain Con Coady.
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