May 1 (Reuters) - Leicester City must wait at least one more day for their first-ever Premier League title after drawing 1-1 with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Claudio Ranieri's side failed to get the victory that would have brought the silverware but they will be crowned champions on Monday if second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who trail them by eight points, fail to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where they have not won since 1990.
"It was very tough. Manchester United dominated possession and we had to dig in and be resilient. It's a point and it's a step in the right direction," Leicester captain Wes Morgan told reporters.
Hopes of a Leicester triumph on Sunday suffered an early setback when striker Anthony Martial put United ahead with a neat right-foot finish from Antonio Valencia's eighth-minute cross.
Captain Morgan soon headed an equalizer from a Danny Drinkwater free kick, and the visitors thought they deserved a penalty when Riyad Mahrez clashed with Marcos Rojo in the United area, but without the suspended Jamie Vardy they lacked their usual threat on the break.
"It proved to be an important goal and to score at Old Trafford was a great feeling," Morgan said.
"I felt I had the better of my marker and any ball that was nearly in I thought I could get a touch. It's not ours until we get two hands on the trophy."
Leicester finished the game with 10 men after Drinkwater was sent off for a second bookable offense five minutes from time.
The midfielder will now miss Leicester's next game at home to Everton, when victory will secure the title even if Tottenham beat Chelsea.
"We knew it was going to be tough," Leicester fullback Danny Simpson said.
"The last thing you want is to go 1-0 down early on but credit to the boys, we kept going. We're happy with the point - it would have been nice to have won it here. We'll try and get together tomorrow and watch the game. We'll keep going and see what happens."
United climbed one place in the table to fifth but are four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who occupy the final Champions League qualifying place, with three games left.
(Reporting by Neil Robinson, editing by Ed Osmond)
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
No comments:
Post a Comment