LEICESTER – Aston Villa plunged Leicester City deeper into relegation danger with a 2-1 away win in the Premier League after the home side played the last 20 minutes with 10 men and had a stoppage-time penalty ruled out by VAR.
Substitute Bertrand Traore scored the 87th-minute winner at the King Power Stadium with a curled shot into the top corner moments after he came on against opponents who sacked manager Brendan Rodgers at the weekend, according to Reuters.
It was his first league goal since May 2021 and left Leicester 19th and two points from safety
Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had already added to Leicester’s woes by being sent off in the 70th minute after collecting a second yellow card of the evening for a late challenge on Ashley Young.
Ollie Watkins had put Unai Emery’s Villa ahead in the 24th minute, the on-form forward sidefooting into the bottom left corner after being fed through by Emiliano Buendia.
A quick VAR check for offside confirmed that the goal, Watkins’s sixth successive away strike and in his 100th Premier League appearance, was good.
Harvey Barnes equalised 11 minutes later, a right-footed shot off the inside of the post, to lift the restless crowd.
Traore, who came on as part of a triple substitution in the 85th minute, appeared to have put the game out of Leicester’s reach but referee Graham Scott raised home hopes again when he awarded a 92nd-minute penalty.
He then overturned the decision, for a potential handball by Watkins, after replays on the pitchside monitor showed the player was first fouled by Patson Daka.
Leicester, surprise champions in 2015-16, have not won a game in all competitions since Feb. 11 and have lost seven of their last eight.
Rodgers departed on Sunday, a day after a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace, with Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell taking over as caretaker managers.
Aston Villa, who moved up to seventh place, have now won 10 of their 16 Premier League games since Spaniard Emery took over from the sacked Steven Gerrard in October with the side in 17th place.
Leicester’s next match is at home to relegation rivals Bournemouth on Saturday while Villa will host Nottingham Forest.
