A David Nugent header eight minutes from time handed Leicester City an advantage in the first leg of their Championship playoff semi-final against Watford on Thursday.
Both sides had chances in a high-tempo first period, but neither could make the breakthrough with the scores remaining level at the interval.
The opportunities dried up in the second period, but a Nugent goal after 82 minutes handed Leicester a 1-0 lead ahead of the second leg on Sunday.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two sides.
Match statistics:
Leicester:
Shots: 7
On target: 5
Possession: 48%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 3
Watford:
Shots: 10
On target: 7
Possession: 52%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 5
Was the result fair?
In truth, neither side really did enough to deserve to secure a first-leg lead this evening. Leicester started the match the better, but Watford certainly grew into the latter stages of the half. The opportunities were few and far between in the second period, but a goalless draw would have been a fair reflection of events at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester's performance
As expected, the Foxes started the evening in the ascendancy, but were lucky not to enter the break behind, with Watford passing up a host of chances in the first half. They were not at their attacking best this evening, but with Michael Keane and Wes Morgan marshalling the back four, there was always a chance that they would nick a 1-0 win.
Watford's performance
It just didn't quite happen for the London outfit this evening, but they will feel that they deserved at least a draw from the match. They looked average in the early stages, but showed why they have the best away record in the Championship as the game gathered pace. They caused plenty of problems down each wing, but ultimately it was their finishing, which is usually so clinical, that lost them the match.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Anthony Knockaert: The 21-year-old Frenchman was the star of the show this evening there is no question about that. When others around him were guilty of losing possession, the midfielder was always in control of the ball. It was also his fabulous free kick that allowed Nugent to score the winner.
Biggest gaffe
Watford's Matej Vydra had a fine opportunity to open the scoring on the hour mark when he drifted into the box, but his tame effort was straight at Kasper Schmeichel. That said, he was not the only one guilty of missing chances in an open match.
Referee performance
Neil Swarbrick had a fairly productive 90 minutes of action this evening. The Englishman was perhaps too card happy in the first period with four yellows issued even though a tackle had hardly been made. The home supporters certainly felt that their side were getting the rough end of the deal in the second period, but neither manager will have had too many complaints about his performance.
What next?
Leicester: The Foxes will attempt to take advantage of their 1-0 lead in the second leg on Sunday. Any draw or indeed win would take them into the final.
Watford: Watford have home advantage in the second leg this weekend, where they need to score at least once to stand a chance of making the final at Wembley.
No Data Analysis info
