It's getting closer by day, and the fear of them not making the end line is also growing with it. The excitement and jitters ahead of something big happening have now overwhelmed football fans, especially those that follow the EPL, around the world. Leicester City are still eight points ahead of their nearest rivals in the Premier League standings, after a controversial draw on Sunday night with West Ham United at home. Now it's just a matter of four games (or four weekends), but the wait is getting more and more excruciating.
The evening started all as planned. Striker Jamie Vardy gave the home team an early lead in the 18th minute when he shot past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian with his left foot after a brilliant counter-attack. It was a perfect goal with four of Leicester's big performers of the season combining for it to materialise. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel hurled the ball to playmaker Riyad Mahrez, who after charging towards the right flank, released it to midfielder N'Golo Kante. Kante then fed it to Vardy, who was on the edge of the West Ham box in the left, and before the defenders and goalie could react he striker struck it across with his left foot into the net.
It took Vardy's tally of the season to 22, right on top of the goal-scorers' list alongside Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane and one above Manchester City's Sergio Aguero. Vardy was booked for a foul ten minutes later, which turned out to be very costly in the second half. Ten minutes into the next half, Vardy was on a move towards Hammers goal when he tumbled down the ground after he was held by opposing defender Angelo Ogbonna. But the referee Jon Moss showed it differently, and brought out the yellow card and after a second replaced it with the dreaded red for diving. Vardy, who was expecting a penalty, protested animatedly but the cat was already out of the bag. With more than 30 minutes left Leicester were reduced to ten men.
The referee had a horrific game as he pointed for a spot-kick later but against the hosts for a soft shoving by Leicester skipper Wes Morgan and Andy Carroll converted it promptly for an equaliser in the 84th minute. Leicester fans, who were already furious about the controversial sending off of Vardy, started to boo the ref for another dubious decision. And two minutes later, Aaron Cresswell increased the misery by scoring a half-volley to take the lead with just four minutes left of regulation time. It looks like a twist in the tale of the 'Leicester story', but the drama continued. Moss compensated the soft decisions against the home team by pointing to the penalty spot in favour of the hosts in the fourth minute of the added time, which Leonardo Ulloa converted to snatch a point in the end.
It was an emotionally-charged and nerve-wracking night for the Premier League leaders, as temper flew high among the players and fans alike. "It was a good game of football," West Ham manager Slaven Bilic said after the match. "Red card. Tackling. Crosses. Everything." And he was absolutely right.
"We showed this season everything is possible with the Foxes," Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said as he remained unruffled and avoided denouncing the referee. It was a setback for Ranieri's team but they have salvaged a bit by snatching a point after all the dramas and nerves. But the fairy tale story is still intact, albeit a little bump they just hit on Sunday. They are expected to hit similar bumps a few more time in the next one month, but if they fight till the end as they did against Hammers, their fairy tale ending's definitely on the card.
Leicester's five-game winning streak has ended now but they are still eight points ahead of second-place Tottenham, who play Stoke City on Monday. The other good news for them is that Arsenal played out a tame draw with Crystal Palace, leaving them with 60 points at fourth place behind Manchester City on the goal difference and more importantly 13 points further from the leaders with just 15 left to play for.
Virtually the only contenders remaining for Leicester are Tottenham. They only need to collect eight more points from their last four matches to clinch the first top-tier league title in the 132-year history of the club. And it will also be for the first time since Blackburn Rovers won the title in 1995, the Premier League trophy will be going outside Manchester or London. So a lot is riding on them.
Next Sunday they have to play Swansea City without Vardy as the striker serves a suspension for receiving that red card. They need eight points now, but it is a number derived by assuming Tottenham to collect all 15 points available to them. So if they miss one on the way, the magic number for Leicester too will fall a notch.
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