Two of the Championship's promotion contenders met at a wintry King Power Stadium this evening.
Leicester City welcomed Middlesbrough with both sides sitting on 47 points in third and fifth position respectively. A win for either would have taken them up to second and it was hosts Leicester who grabbed the points.
David Nugent was the match winner in an end-to-end clash that did more than enough to warm a bitter Midlands evening.
Read how it all unfolded in our minute-by-minute coverage below.
Evening folks. With all the wintry weather up and down the country, there was a doubt that tonight's game at the King Power Stadium would be abandoned. I can, however, confirm that we have received the go-ahead. Leicester's official Twitter account have just said: "Tonight's game GOES AHEAD. @Boro have yet to arrive, so both clubs and match officials considering a delayed kick-off. More info soon..."
When that 'more info' comes through, we'll relay it to you straight away. Fear not. As the tweet below says, the Boro team have yet to arrive and therefore we are still waiting on their starting XI. We do have the Leicester side though and here it is...
FOXES XI: Schmeichel; De Laet, Drinkwater, Morgan, Konchesky; Marshall, Keane, James, Knockaert; Nugent, Wood
BREAKING: The game has been delayed by 15 minutes and will now kick off at 8pm.
Leicester defender Liam Moore has posted a picture of his abandoned car that had been grounded by the snow. He will now walk to the stadium. View the picture on Twitter by clicking here.
Looking at the two teams' form going into this one, Leicester have one four straight games and the arrival of Chris Wood at the start of the January transfer window is a big reason for this. The Kiwi striker has scored five goals in just two games!
The picture at the top of this article is of Wood celebrating one of the goals in a first-half hat-trick last time out against lowly Bristol.
7.15pmLooking at the two teams' form going into this one, Leicester have one four straight games and the arrival of Chris Wood at the start of the January transfer window is a big reason for this. The Kiwi striker has scored five goals in just two games!
Wood starts tonight alongside the ever-prolific David Nugent for the Foxes.
Boro, meanwhile, have won three of their last five and will be upsetting the odds if they nick a maximum this evening.
Hmmm, here's some potentially interesting news that may concern Leicester fans. Foxes fan Gary Lineker has just tweeted: "I'm leaving twitter for personal reasons. Thanks all." This could be a joke, or someone posting with access to his account. Who knows. Seems an odd move as the Match of the Day presenter has 1,356,745 followers.
Still no news on the Boro starting lineup, I wonder if they've made it to the ground yet?
Click here to see a picture of the King Power Stadium earlier today. Plenty of snow.
We're hearing that the Middlesbrough players are in fact walking to the ground as they couldn't bypass the gridlock.
In the reverse fixture up north, Leicester won it thanks to a late Lloyd Dyer goal. The match report for that one can be found here.
IN THE HOUSE! The Boro players have arrived after taking nearly two hours for a short journey. Both sides are out on the pitch, which is looking remarkably green, warming up.
It is snowing inside the stadium but the turf looks more than ready for 90 minutes. Only a thick, heavy downpour can effect this game, surely?
BORO XI: Steele; Hoyte, Hines, Bikey, Friend; Ledesma, McEachran, Leadbitter, Williams, Haroun; McDonald
It looks as if the visitors have gone with a five-man midfield, with Scott McDonald leading the line on his own.
McDonald is perhaps the most likely goalscorer for Tony Mowbray's side but also look out for Emmanuel Ledesma. The 24-year-old Argentine has been impressive this season and is Boro's chief playmaker.
Mowbray has just told Sky Sports News that he expects his players to be professional despite the tough preparation they've had. He adds that his side need to "sort out" their away form. It won't be easy tonight as Leicester bang in the goals in front of their own fans.
As both sides are level on points, they can both move up to second with three points tonight. Click here for the full table.
An even more ominous sign for Boro is the fact that Leicester possess the toughest defence in the league.
The ground staff are still hard at work doing all they can to make the pitch as good as possible before the off in a little over five minutes' time.
SUBS: Here are the two benches tonight
Foxes: Vardy, King, Dyer, Logan, Waghorn, Gallagher, Moore
Boro: Ripley, Smallwood, Bailey, Thomson, Emnes, Jutkiewicz, Reach
Foxes: Vardy, King, Dyer, Logan, Waghorn, Gallagher, Moore
Boro: Ripley, Smallwood, Bailey, Thomson, Emnes, Jutkiewicz, Reach
It's quite an empty King Power stadium and that's due to the heavy traffic around the ground. They can't really push the kickoff back any further as the two teams are lined up in the tunnel!
REFEREE WATCH: Tonight's man is charge is Roger East. Does his bald head make him the Howard Webb of the Football League?
If Boro go behind tonight then expect Lukas Jutkiewicz and/or Marvin Emnes to be introduced sooner than later. Kickoff imminent!
KICKOFF! Leicester get us underway.
Early penalty shout from the Leicester players but it receives just a shake of the head from East after the ball had bounced onto Leadbitter's hand. Would have been extremely harsh had it been given.
Ledesma slides the ball through to McDonald and the linesman's flag stays down with the hosts' hands up appealing. The Scottish forward can't take it in his stride though and the chance dies out.
First shot of the game comes from Leicester's Marshall but it's a bit of a pea-roller and Steele simply has to bend and pick it up. Both sides doing that 'feeling each other out' thing right now.
CHANCE! First clear-cut opening goes to Boro as Friend overlaps down the left and cuts the ball back. Morgan is there to clear but he skews it just a few yards and McDonald has a volley at goal that flies over from an acute angle.
Great opening 10 from Boro and they're on the attack again but some patient build-up comes to an end when Leadbitter looks to clip a no-look pass over for McDonald, but overhits it.
CHANCE! A better opportunity for Boro this one as Haroun is released down the middle but he seems to control the ball with his wrong foot and it rolls away to Schmeichel.
Leicester respond as Nugent attacks down the right and exchanges passes with strike partner Wood before fizzing at Steele, who has to push it behind for a corner.
SAVE! Suddenly, it's all Leicester. Middlesbrough give the ball away to Wood and he looks for Nugent. He does well to hold off Bikey and eventually prod it back Wood's way and he manages to poke a shot towards goal that Steele is alert to.
Oh dear! Ledesma finds McDonald with plenty of space down the left. The number 27 attacks Morgan and looks to curl it around the defender into the far corner but gets it horribly wrong.
BOOKING! We have our first yellow of the match and it's for diving. McDonald looks for Ledesma and he gets to the ball ahead of Konchesky before whipping his body round overzealously. East is having none of it and produces the card the colour of his shirt.
More bad news for Boro as Hoyte sustains an injury off the ball and has to go off. He's replaced by Kevin Thomson.
Boro look a threat on the break and Leadbitter's volley looks like it's heading goalwards before Keane flicks it out for a corner. Good game so far, considering the tough conditions.
It's end-to-end! Leicester hoof clear the corner and Nugent outmuscles Thomson down the right to present himself with yards and yards to run at goal. He could attempt to square it for Knockaert and Marshall but goes it alone and his shot is blocked.
The ball bounces up invitingly for McDonald and he looks to dip it over Schmeichel from 25 yards but there was always too much height on that.
OFF THE BAR! What an effort from Knockaert! The mini Frenchman lets fly from the edge of the area and it takes the slightest touch off a defender and cannons down off the bar before going out off the post! Can't get any closer than that to a goal.
A stale few minutes is lit up by a delicious pass from McDonald for Williams. The midfielder's second touch is heavy though and he takes it too close to Schmeichel before rounding the keeper and seeing his effort cleared away from goal.
SHOT! The Leicester defence simply say to McDonald, 'go on, shoot.' The striker does and hits it well but it's close to Schmeichel who parries out. From the resulting corner Bikey rises highest and sees his header beaten away by the Foxes keeper. He's being called into action a lot at the moment.
JUST WIDE! Thomson loses possession in and Knockaert steals before driving towards the area and letting fly. The number 24 again hits well, this time keeping it low but it rolls an inch or two wide of Steele's left-hand post.
Neat link up from De Laet and Nugent down the right. The latter's cross is deflected and is heading for goal but Steele kicks it away.
SAVE! The ball breaks to Nugent and he dummies to free up some room before firing straight at standing-tall Steele. Should've kept it low.
OFF THE BAR! From the corner, Wood does brilliantly to keep the ball in and the back post before clipping back to Keane. The centre back loops his header over Steele and onto the face of the crossbar. That's twice the home side have hit the woodwork.
HALF-TIME: Leicester 0-0 Middlesbrough
It's goalless at the King Power but there's been plenty to talk about, with both teams are willing to attack. I'd say that Boro have been particularly impressive on the road but Leicester have hit the bar twice.
Elsewhere in the Football League, it's 0-0 between Morecambe and Cheltenham in League Two.
There's also a pair of European games from Spain and Germany taking place. Follow our live commentary of Espanyol 1-2 Mallorca here and Schalke 2-2 Hannover here.
Possession-wise, Leicester have had 57% of the ball but Boro won't mind. They're best chances have come on the break anyway.
KICKOFF! Visiting Boro get the second half underway.
Ledesma whips over a great free kick from the right and a bit of penalty-box pinball comes to an end when Leadbitter slices high and wide from 16 yards.
Confusion in the Leicester defence almost allows McEachran a shot but Morgan just gets back in time.
If you manually refresh this page quickly then the image at the top will be from tonight of Ledesma and Konchesky contesting for the ball.
YELLOW! Konchesky is the first Leicester player booked. Ledesma can't make anything of the free kick, swinging it into the arms of Schmeichel.
Great technique from Marshall to curl the ball Beckham-style towards the far post. It did have some dip on it but Steele was confident enough to watch it over his crossbar.
MISS! Boro should be ahead. McEachran superbly flicks the ball round the corner for Ledesma, who times his run to perfection. The Argentinian bears down on goal and tries to clip the ball, a la Messi, over Schmeichel but gets it all wrong and it bounces a long way wide. Mowbray isn't happy, understandably, with that.
OFF THE POST! Leicester hit the woodwork again! They work the ball brilliantly to Konchesky down the left and his cross to Wood in the middle is perfect. The in-form striker thumps his header low and Steele can only watch as it rattles the foot of the post and bounces safe.
BOOKING! Boro go down the other end and Ledesma would have been in on goal but for Keane's outstretched hand. The visitors have a free kick just on the edge of the D...
Ledesma takes it on and he tries to lift it softly over the wall but gets way too much loft on it. Poor effort.
As we tick over the hour-mark, this game truly is in the balance. Both sides have threatened and I'd be amazed if this finishes as a stalemate.
DISALLOWED! Nugent rolls the ball into the net from De Laet's pass. The linesman has his flag raised and the replays indicate that it was ever-so close. Just on, for me.
It's a head-in-hands moment for Leicester's Marshall. Williams can't get to the ball and the left winger is away. He drives into the area and, instead of cutting it back, goes for goal with a toepoke but gets it horribly wrong.
SUB: Boro make their second change and it's an attacking one, with Emnes replacing McEachran.
GOAL! Leicester 1-0 Boro (Nugent)
Super, super goal from Mr David Nugent. The ball is lofted forward to Wood and he flicks it over his market into the path of Nugent. The striker has always had good instinct and he shoots first time on the half volley past Steele into the far corner. Great finish.
CHANCE! Boro almost hit straight back as Hines clips over the top perfectly for McDonald but his half-volley shot is ballooned over. It turns out to be the striker's last action as he comes off for Jutkiewicz.
DISALLOWED! It's the third time Nugent has put the ball in the net but only one has counted! This time he's correctly given offside.
Jutkiewicz displays his strength to get to the byline and then technique to dink a clever cross to the back post that Emnes can't quite get his toe to.
SUB: Leicester make a change and it's Lloyd Dyer on for Knockaert.
Dyer doesn't take long to get into the action as he shows his raw pace to beat Williams on the outside and bullet a shot goalwards that Schmeichel parries.
SUB: Another change for Leicester, this time it's in midfield as Marshall is replaced by Andy King.
SUB: Final change for Leicester sees goalscorer Nugent taken off for Jamie Vardy.
As we enter the closing stages, Leicester are definitely trying to slow it down and close out victory. Have Boro got anything left?
CHANCES! At one end Jutkiewicz forces Schmeichel into a save before King dribbles a shot just wide as Leicester look to counter.
PENALTY TO MIDDLESBROUGH!
SAVED BY SCHMEICHEL! EMNES MISSES!
It's a perfect height for the correctly-guessing Schmeichel and he parries it away with ease.
Boro are still piling on the pressure but that's a real waste from Williams as he slices miles wide. Four minutes were added on, by the way.
FULL-TIME: Leicester 1-0 Middlesbrough
Massive three points for the Foxes and that takes them up to second place in the Championship.
Match winner Nugent tells Sky Sports News that Schmeichel makes penalty saves like that "every day in training". The Danish international adds that the save was nothing more than "gut instinct".
A pleasant attacking game to watch that was won by Nugent's precise finish. Both sides had plenty of chances and either could have won it. Although his side head back north empty-handed, Mowbray will, on the whole, be pleased with his side's display and they're a shoe-in for the playoff mix come the Spring. Thanks for joining Sports Mole, be sure to come back tomorrow for a bumper Saturday of football and all your favourite sports. Until then!
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Pascal Lemesre
