The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsA penalty and an extra man didn’t prove advantageous for Leicester as they failed to break down a resilient Bournemouth defence.
The Foxes went into this game on the back of a great performance against Manchester City in the week but they drew another blank against the Cherries.
It was Bournemouth who were the more dominant of the two sides in the first half as Leicester perhaps showed too much respect to the visitors. They dominated possession and created a number of chances; Dan Gosling should have put his side ahead but he fired his shot over the bar from close range despite being unchallenged.
Leicester never really got out of the blocks in the first half but their one chance came shortly before the interval. Jamie Vardy wriggled through the Bournemouth defence but could only direct his shot onto the post from no more than eight yards out.
The replacement of Leonardo Ulloa with Nathan Dyer sparked a bit of life into the Foxes after the break as they starting passing the ball much better and creating chances.
An opportunity to break the deadlock came midway through the second period when Vardy was through on goal, only to be fouled by Simon Francis inside the area. The Bournemouth captain saw red for the challenge and Riyad Mahrez had a chance to score his 14th goal of the season from the spot.
The Algerian was kept relatively quiet and there was no real conviction in his stuttered run-up. The hesitance made it look like Mahrez was going to miss and he did so; Artur Boruc pulled off a save to his left side to deny Leicester the opening goal.
It was the second time Mahrez has missed a penalty this season. The first came in the penalty shootout at Hull City when the Foxes were knocked out of the League Cup.
Harry Arter made way for defender Sylvain Distin as the Cherries were forced to stay defensive. Leicester continued to press but no-one could find a way into the compact Bournemouth box.
Eddie Howe’s side deserved a share of the spoils and the result takes them to 15th, temporarily above Chelsea and now four points above the bottom three.
The positives for Leicester are they remain 2nd in the Premier League despite Manchester City winning at Watford. Kasper Schmeichel was also able to keep a clean sheet on his 200th appearance for the club.
With a trip to Tottenham Hotspur up next in the FA Cup, Claudio Ranieri will be expected to make a few changes to the side in order to give some of his players a well-deserved rest. The Foxes then face another trip to White Hart Lane just a few days later as league fixtures resume.
