Leicester City 1-0 Norwich City

Ulloa scores for Leicester — Leonardo Ulloa gave Leicester victory with his third goal of the season

Leonardo Ulloa's 89th-minute goal extended Leicester's lead at the top of the Premier League to five points and denied Norwich a deserved draw.

Ulloa slid in at the far post to convert Marc Albrighton's cross at the end of an otherwise limp Foxes display.

Norwich earlier had the better chances, Cameron Jerome heading wide and Nathan Redmond off target from distance.

Leicester had largely been restricted to shots from distance until substitute Ulloa had the final say.

Until the Argentine's intervention, the Foxes were facing the prospect of losing top spot if either of Arsenal or Tottenham win on Sunday - instead they are guaranteed to remain at the summit with 11 games remaining.

Norwich are still outside the relegation places, but level on points with Newcastle, who have a game in hand.

5 live Football Daily: The biggest goal of Leicester's season

Stuff of champions?

For so long, Leicester looked likely to be frustrated into a stalemate by a tactically sound Norwich performance and their own lack of guile.

As the Canaries dropped deep, forming a five-man defence when they did not have the ball, Leicester looked to the trickery of Riyad Mahrez. As the clock ticked down, the hosts had only managed two shots on target - both from distance, both dealt with by John Ruddy.

Enter Ulloa, who arrived at the back post to convert into an empty net after Albrighton's low cross had crucially been poked past Ruddy by Jamie Vardy.

If champions find a way to win when they are not at their best, then Leicester have hinted at another reason why the Premier League title could be coming their way.

Leonardo Ulloa's late goal — Leicester worked from back to front for Marc Albrighton's cross, with Jamie Vardy getting a crucial touch that took the ball past John Ruddy and into the path of the unmarked Leonardo Ulloa

Cruel on the Canaries

It was so cruel on Norwich, who arrived at the King Power with the perfect plan to prevent Leicester from the sort of pacy counter-attacks that have carried them to the top of the league.

Vardy was given no space behind the defence and was largely anonymous, while the tricky Mahrez, bar a couple of jinking runs, was often crowded out.

But Norwich did not only defend - they had opportunities to win it.

Ranieri hails Leicester players' belief

Jerome should have scored when he climbed highest to meet a first-half corner, while Redmond fizzed a shot past the post from long range with home goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel beaten.

More of the same?

While Leicester can revel in a dramatic win that keeps their unlikely title bid on track, they must also consider how to better cope when teams set up in the same manner as the Canaries.

This was only the third time this season that Leicester had the most possession in a Premier League match as Norwich were happy to concede the ball in order to not leave the sort of space in which Vardy and Mahrez have thrived.

In their final 11 fixtures, Leicester will face only three clubs in the current top nine, and perhaps plenty of others willing to follow the template set by the Canaries.

Ulloa's late winner was further evidence of the momentum and belief that has carried Claudio Ranieri's men this far in a remarkable story, but problems that the Foxes may yet encounter had already been revealed.

Action areas — Leicester had the most of the possession for only the third time this season, but spent no more time attacking than Norwich did

Man of the match - Leonardo Ulloa

What they said

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: "It was a difficult match. Norwich played well and closed the space, but we believed until the end. This victory was very important to restart after the Arsenal defeat.

"I said before the Arsenal match that Norwich would be more difficult. Both teams could have scored a goal in the final 20 minutes.

"The conclusion I have drawn from this is that my players believe until the end. That, for me, is very important. If the other teams start to win, they can win all the matches. But for us, the next match is always the final match. That is our mentality."

Norwich manager Alex Neil: "I don't think we deserved that. In the game we had good chances and defensively we were solid.

"We kept Vardy and Mahrez quiet and we certainly deserved something. There are a lot of things to take from it.

"We have a game on Tuesday and we'll get it out of our system before then."

Late defeat tough to take - Neil

The stats

Leicester did not record a shot on target until the 58th minute
Norwich's only shot on target in this game came in the 43rd minute
Leicester have won four of their last five games
Two of Leonardo Ulloa's three Premier League goals this season have come as a sub
Norwich have taken one point from their last seven Premier League games
The Canaries have gone 14 Premier League games on the road without a clean sheet
Leicester have conceded only four goals in their last nine Premier League games

What next?

Leicester welcome West Brom to the King Power on Tuesday, while Norwich entertain Chelsea on the same night.

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Leicester

Formation 4-4-2

1Schmeichel
13AmarteySubstituted forUlloaat 78'minutes
5Morgan
6Huth
28Fuchs
26Mahrez
4Drinkwater
14KantéSubstituted forKingat 70'minutes
11Albrighton
20OkazakiSubstituted forSchluppat 69'minutes
9Vardy

Substitutes

10King
15Schlupp
22Gray
23Ulloa
24Dyer
27Wasilewski
32Schwarzer

Norwich

Formation 5-4-1

1Ruddy
25Pinto
24BennettBooked at 51mins
5Martin
17KloseSubstituted forMbokaniat 90+2'minutes
12Brady
22Redmond
27Tettey
8Howson
7NaismithBooked at 48minsSubstituted forJarvisat 82'minutes
10JeromeSubstituted forBamfordat 90+2'minutes

Substitutes

9Mbokani
11Bamford
13Rudd
16Jarvis
21Mulumbu
23Olsson
28O'Neil

Referee:: Neil Swarbrick
Attendance:: 32,114

Match Stats

Home TeamLeicesterAway TeamNorwich

Possession: Home58%; Away42%

Shots: Home13; Away9

Shots on Target: Home3; Away1

Corners: Home3; Away4

Fouls: Home9; Away11

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Leicester City 1, Norwich City 0.
90'+6'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Leicester City 1, Norwich City 0.

90'+5'
Post update
Foul by Marc Albrighton (Leicester City).
90'+5'
Post update
Matthew Jarvis (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
90'+3'
Post update
Attempt missed. Patrick Bamford (Norwich City) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Ryan Bennett with a headed pass following a set piece situation.
90'+2'
Post update
Foul by Wes Morgan (Leicester City).
90'+2'
Post update
Dieumerci Mbokani (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
90'+2'
Substitution
Substitution, Norwich City. Dieumerci Mbokani replaces Timm Klose.
90'+2'
Substitution
Substitution, Norwich City. Patrick Bamford replaces Cameron Jerome.
90'
Post update
Wes Morgan (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'
Post update
Foul by Nathan Redmond (Norwich City).
89'
Goal!
Goal! Leicester City 1, Norwich City 0. Leonardo Ulloa (Leicester City) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jamie Vardy.
89'
Post update
Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) left footed shot from very close range misses to the left. Assisted by Marc Albrighton with a cross.
85'
Post update
Foul by Leonardo Ulloa (Leicester City).
85'
Post update
Ryan Bennett (Norwich City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
83'
Post update
Attempt missed. Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Matthew Jarvis.
82'
Substitution
Substitution, Norwich City. Matthew Jarvis replaces Steven Naismith.
80'
Post update
Foul by Christian Fuchs (Leicester City).
80'
Post update
Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
78'
Substitution
Substitution, Leicester City. Leonardo Ulloa replaces Daniel Amartey.

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