Leicester moved back to the top of the Championship on Easter Monday after coming from behind to beat play-off chasing Norwich 3-1.
Gabriel Sara put the Canaries in front inside 20 minutes after a clever corner routine – a carbon copy of the goal John Stones scored for Man City against Liverpool last month.
But Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ended a run of six games without a goal involvement when he headed in to equalise and then provided the assist for Stephy Mavididi to win the game with some individual brilliance.
Goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Stephy Mavididi helped Leicester to just their second win in seven games
There was even time for Jamie Vardy to come off the bench to add a third in injury-time and atone for his four misses in the defeat to Bristol City on Good Friday.
The Foxes’ second win in their last seven games lifts them ahead of Ipswich and Leeds – who both play later on Monday, live on Sky Sports – for the time being. They do still boast a game in hand over both, however.
Norwich remain sixth, though Coventry, Preston and Hull below them have all played one game fewer.
Timely comeback win gets Leicester back on track
Leicester knew that only a win would get them back into the top two, following their recent worrying slump in form, so a sense of dread returned 20 minutes, when Norwich took the lead in impressive fashion from their first shot of the game.
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Gabriel Sara taps in the ball from a corner to hand Norwich the lead in their Championship game against Leicester.
Ben Gibson shepherded Dewsbury-Hall away from the near post, allowing Sara to nip into the space he had vacated to poke Marcelino Nunez’s corner past goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
The lead lasted only seven minutes, though. Wilfred Ndidi pumped the ball to the byline, where Mavididi was waiting to cushion the ball for Dewsbury-Hall to head in the equaliser and lift the confidence of the players and the morale of the anxious home fans.
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Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall nods in the equaliser for Leicester City to coax a ‘roar of relief’ from the home fans at the King Power Stadium.
Then, in first half stoppage-time, Leicester appealed for a penalty when Ndidi’s clipped cross appeared to strike the outstretched arm of Gibson. Referee Darren Bond, however, was not interested.
In the grand scheme of things, it mattered little. Leicester upped the intensity after the break and got their reward for doing so just after the hour, as Dewsbury-Hall moved the ball onto Mavididi, who dinked it past Jack Stacey and into the bottom right corner.
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Stephy Mavididi makes it two for Leicester with a superb finish in the bottom right corner.
As the search for a crucial third went on, there was a heart-in-mouth moment for the hosts, when Stacey burst into the box and struck a shot just wide of the right-hand post, when he might have been better advised to square for substitute Liam Gibbs.
But in the 93rd minute, Vardy found himself perfectly placed to lash in and secure the points after Harry Winks’ shot had been blocked and fallen kindly for him.
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Jamie Vardy seals the deal to take the victory for Leicester in the Championship game against Norwich.
The managers
Leicester’s Enzo Maresca:
“Even at 1-0 down, the team was playing well. We conceded just one corner. We deserved the three points.
“In the last five, six games, we didn’t win many games. When you go 1-0 down, you have to be mentally strong.”
Norwich’s David Wagner:
To follow…