26 April 2024

Leicester seal return to Premier League – 5 matches that defined their season

26 April 2024

Leicester are back in the Premier League after they sealed automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship.

It has been a brilliant season for the Foxes under Enzo Maresca, even if they threatened to make a mess of it in the last few months.

Here, the PA news agency charts five key games in their memorable campaign.

Leicester 2 Coventry 1 (August 6)

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Leicester set the tone for a memorable campaign with three points in the opening game against Coventry. In Maresca’s first game in charge they claimed the bagging rights in the M69 derby thanks to a late Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall double after Kyle McFadzean had put the Sky Blues ahead.

Southampton 1 Norwich 4 (September 15)

Having started the season with four successive wins, the Foxes bounced back from their first loss against Hull with a real statement performance.

They hammered Southampton at St Mary’s with goals from Jamie Vardy, Kasey McAteer, Wilfred Ndidi and Stephy Mavididi, playing a fluid and attacking style.

West Brom 1 Leicester 2 (December 2)

The Foxes showcased their grit and never-say-die attitude with a memorable last-gasp win at the Hawthorns. Dewsbury-Hall had given them a 72nd-minute lead only for Josh Maja to level for the Baggies in the 89th minute.

But Leicester did not feel sorry for themselves and stole the three points deep into stoppage time when Harry Winks scored a breakaway goal.

Sunderland 0 Leicester 1 (March 2)

Leicester had began to wobble and lost three games in a row, including a shock home defeat by QPR when they travelled to the Stadium of Light for a midweek game.

And they stopped the rot with a vital win, Vardy’s 13th-minute strike proving the difference.

Leicester 5 Southampton 0 (April 23)

The Foxes had been stumbling over the line after losing six of their previous 11 games but they came good when it mattered with their best display of the season.

They put Southampton to the sword for a second time this season, thanks largely to Issahaky Fatawu’s hat-trick. Ndidi and Vardy also scored as a five-star performance put them on the brink of a Premier League return.

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