High-flying Leicester City took on Nottingham Forest in this afternoon's East Midlands derby on a run of four-straight victories.
The Foxes' impressive run was ended at the King Power Stadium though as first-half goals from Simon Cox and Jamie Mackie settled the match.
Read how it all unfolded in front of a capacity crowd in our minute-by-minute updates below.
Afternoon all! This week's feature 3pm kickoff in the Championship is an East Midlands derby as Nottingham Forest travel to high-flying Leicester City.
I say high-flying Leicester, but Forest are also in the top six but not quite as lofty as the Foxes, who have been on an impressive run of late and could go top of the table this afternoon. Here comes the team news...
FOREST XI: Darlow; Jara, Hobbs, Lascelles, Cohen; Lansbury, Vaughan; Reid, Paterson, Mackie, Cox
LEICESTER XI:
TEAM NEWS: @konch3 starts. @Jeffrey_Schlupp into attack. #LCFCvNFFC pic.twitter.com/OG5eY2WaNo
— Leicester City (@OfficialFOXES) November 9, 2013
And the Forest subs are: Lichaj, Chalobah, Henderson, Halford, Derbyshire, Majewski, de Vries
Chris Wood misses out completely for the home side as Paul Konchesky comes back to left-back, with Jeffrey Schlupp moving up to left-wing.
Billy Davies, meanwhile, makes a trio of changes to his Forest lineup as Andy Reid, Jamie Paterson and Simon Cox come in for Darius Henderson, Eric Lichaj and the suspended Djamel Abdoun.
A quick bit of news from elsewhere in the second tier as Charlton's game against Leeds United passes a pitch inspection and will kick off half an hour late at 3.30pm.
Earlier on this afternoon, two of the other sides in the top six played out a draw at the Madejski as Reading held QPR. Joey Barton scored the equaliser for Rangers and held up a shirt with injured teammate Alejandro Faurlin's name and number on. A nice touch from the controversial character.
© Getty Images
© Getty Images
REFEREE WATCH: Anyway, back to the game at the King Power Stadium and the referee today is Lee Mason, who usually officiates in the top flight. He's had a busy week after taking charge of Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea a week ago before overseeing the League Cup last-16 match between Sunderland and Southampton in midweek.
The two games between these two last season had nine goals, with a 2-2 draw here at the King Power Stadium almost a year ago to the day followed by a dramatic 3-2 win for Leicester on the final day of the season that snatched a place in the playoffs for the Foxes.
By the way, at Sports Mole we love Saturdays and cover every single Premier League match individually. Click here to find all the links you need.
PREDICTION TIME! Just five minutes until the teams emerge in Leicester so I best get my prediction in. I'll go for another high-scoring affair between the pair. 2-2.
Okey doke, the two teams are out at the King Power Stadium in their home colours of blue and red. Before we kick off we will have a minute's of silence for remembrance weekend.
In fact, it's a trumpet tune played in front of a capacity crowd. Impeccably observed silence form the supporters followed by a huge roar when the tune finished.
KICKOFF! Off we go and it really is a great atmosphere as the sun tries to break through the Midlands clouds.
Leicester have started on the front foot here, with Knockaert just skewing a shot from the edge of the area well wide.
I watched Schlupp play brilliantly at left-back last week at Watford and he's started well in the attacking third this week. He and Nugent just linked up nicely to win a corner but nothing came of it.
YELLOW! Mason has a decision to make here as Wasilewski goes in with both studs showing. If the Pole had made contact it would have been a definite red card but he missed the man so it's only yellow.
YELLOW! A second Foxes name in the book as Knockaert is cautioned for asking referee Mason to show a Forest player a card.
SAVE! Closest we've come to a goal as Knockaert curls over the resulting free kick and Nugent gets up highest to flick at goal, with Darlow tipping it over the crossbar at full stretch.
SIDE-NETTING! Knockaert may have been childishly booked but he's just shown the best part of his game with a weaving run into the box. He then crossed to the back post where Dyer took a touch before firing into the side-netting.
That booking for Knockaert means that he will miss the next game against Ipswich after the international break.
UPDATE: Not many goals elsewhere as Bolton and Birmingham are the only two sides to have scored against Millwall and Huddersfield respectively. Barnsley have just had a penalty saved in the South Yorkshire derby against Donny.
Back to the King Power Stadium where Nugent's header is still the closest that either side have come. Cohen just curled over a dangerous cross for Forest that was gathered comfortably by Schmeichel.
Bad tackle from Lascelles as he takes out Schlupp on the right-hand corner of the penalty box. Good position for a Leicester free kick.
Knockaert curls it over and again it's Nugent who's up but he heads over.
GOAL! LEICESTER 0-1 FOREST (COX)
Forest take the lead against the run of play and it's a scrappy goal. Jara fed Paterson down the right and he cut inside the area before having his shot blocked, with the ball falling kindly to Cox whose low shot squeezed under the man on the line to go in.
CHANCE! Great opportunity for Leicester as a long throw from the right reaches Schlupp, who acrobatically volleys the ball behind him and just wide of the upright.
Almost a disaster at the back for Forest as Schlupp's pace causes confusion between Darlow and Lascelles. The ball pops out and looks like Schlupp is going to have an open goal until Hobbs comes over to help out and clear.
Scintillating skill from Knockaert down the left flank as he shifts the ball past two defenders before driving into the area. He looks for a blue shirt in the middle but slices his cross out of play. Shame.
SHOT! Forest do look dangerous on the counter-attack and they come close again as Lansbury fires a shot from a tight angle that Schmeichel beats out for a corner.
GOAL! LEICESTER 0-2 FOREST (MACKIE)
Forest double their lead and again it's fortuitous as Lansbury's volley is cleared off the line and falls kindly for Mackie who strokes it into the top corner.
YELLOW! A first Forest name into the book as Lascelles is cautioned for kicking the ball away. Somehow, Vaughan escaped a booking for his nasty tackle on Dyer. Leicester have a free kick 20 yards out, left of centre.
HALF TIME: LEICESTER 0-2 FOREST
Knockaert's free kick is a tame one and caught by Darlow, with Taylor blowing for half time straight away.
Apart from the two scrappy goals, it's mainly been Leicester who have looked the more dangerous of the two sides. Nigel Pearson's side haven't been able to find the net though and Forest have punished them.
#lcfc's @Aknockaert takes on the #nffc defence at King Power Stadium. @SkyBetChamp @Neil_PlumbImage pic.twitter.com/qnXNxkI8id
— Leicester City (@OfficialFOXES) November 9, 2013
Leicester may have had eight shots for Forest's five, but they have only got one target. The Foxes accuracy has to improve in the second period.
If you're only just joining us and want a summary of the opening period, click here to read our half-time report.
FOREST SUB: The visitors make a change at the interval as Greg Halford replaces Lascelles.
SAVE! Twenty seconds into the second period and Forest almost have a third as Paterson's low shot is palmed out by Schmeichel.
Here's a shot from Getty Images of Paterson racing over to join Cox after the first goal:
© Getty Images
© Getty Images
Leicester want a penalty as Halford appears to push Schlupp with Knockaert's curling cross headed their way. Mason isn't interested though and signals for a goal kick.
Swift interplay from Leicester down the right-hand side and Schlupp's low cross is cut out just before Moore was about to swipe at goal.
Again the Leicester fans scream for a penalty as Jara nudges Dyer off the ball. It was shoulder-to-shoulder though and Mason was right not to point to the spot.
As the clock ticks on Leicester will have to pile more bodies forward and Forest look dangerous on the counter. They just broke through Paterson and Mackie before Reid shaped to shoot but instead looked for Cox who was offside.
Again Forest counter this time through Mackie down the right, who somehow gets past his man in the area before having his shot blocked.
LEICESTER SUB: Pearson throws on Jamie Vardy to join Nugent in attack, with Dyer the unfortunate one to come off.
FOREST SUB: Darius Henderson comes on for the visitors with the view of holding the ball up better in attack. Paterson departs.
As things stand in the Championship, Forest will be climbing to fifth. For Leicester, it could be worse as the only side ahead of them in the table, Burnley, are losing against Bournemouth.
LEICESTER SUBS: Pearson makes his second and third changes as Knockaert and Schlupp come off for Dean Hammond and Gary Taylor-Fletcher.
PENALTY TO LEICESTER!
FIRED OVER THE BAR BY NUGENT!
Absolute shocker from Leicester's frontman as he leans back a little too far and grazes it off the top of the bar and over. The spot kick came after Vaughan was adjudged to have come through Drinkwater too strongly from behind.
That missed penalty has seemingly dampened any hope of a Leicester comeback. The Forest fans are in full voice now.
FOREST SUB: The visitors look to close the game out as defender Eric Lichaj replaces striker Cox.
The attendance at the King Power is confirmed as 30,416. The 3,320 travelling Forest fans are having a whale of a time.
Half-chance for Leicester to pull one back as Moore fizzes over a cross from the right that Taylor-Fletcher meets but can only flick a long way wide.
Still amazing to think that Nugent didn't even put that on target after scoring five penalties already this season. Wasilewski has just clipped a pointless ball to no-one in the box and that sums up the Foxes' second half.
YELLOW! Cohen is booked for an ugly lunge on Taylor-Fletcher. He may have got the ball, but you can't jump in like that.
CHANCE! If Moore had scored then, it would have made injury time very interesting but he can only head wide from Hammond's deep cross.
FOUR minutes of time added on.
SAVE! Drinkwater speculatively strikes at goal from distance and forces Darlow into a sprawling save.
CHANCE! Taylor-Fletcher with a great chance to pull one back but he can only fire over.
YELLOW! Late booking for Hammond as he clatters into Jara.
FULL TIME: LEICESTER 0-2 FOREST
It's a great result for Forest as they end a two-game losing streak and put a stop to Leicester's four-game winning run.
Forest move up to fifth in the table while Leicester stay second but fall a point further behind Burnley, who ended up drawing with Bournemouth. The Clarets are now two clear at the top.
If you've only just joined us on this page and don't want to wade through all of the below updates, click here for our instant match report.
Plenty of goals in the Championship this afternoon and some very late ones as well. Find all of the scores and scorers here.
Anyway, we've run out of time here so thanks for joining Sports Mole for coverage of an East Midlands derby that was settled by two scrappy first-half Forest goals. Stick around on the site for plenty of reaction and analysis from up and down the country!
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Pascal Lemesre
