Manchester United 5-3 after trailing
3-1 with just over half-an-hour
remaining in a match of astonishing
twists and turns on Sunday.
Manchester United led 2-0 and 3-1 at the King
Power Stadium but finished down to 10 men and
beaten after young defender Tyler Blackett was
sent off in the 83rd minute for an incident which led
to Leicester's second penalty and their fifth goal.
"It was absolutely brilliant," man-of-the-match
Jamie Vardy, who was playing non-league football
two years ago, told Sky Sports.
"We had done our research this week and their
attacking options are frightening but the diamond
formation they play leaves a lot of space behind the
full backs and we looked to exploit that," he said.
"You can see what it means to the fans. We know
we can play anyone, we exploited their weaknesses
and we got the result. We know we have goals in us
and we put our chances away," added Vardy, who
put Leicester in front for the first time with the
fourth goal after 79 minutes.
Manchester United had beaten Leicester in nine of
their last 10 league meetings, and drawn the other,
since Leicester last beat United in the league in
January 1998.
Stunned United manager Louis van Gaal told the
BBC: "I think the spectators have seen a fantastic
spectacle today and we started well and scored
fantastic goals.
"But you have to win the game and we didn't do
that. We didn't keep ball possession in the right
way.
"We have too many players who want to seek for
the goal. Leicester have already showed against
Arsenal and Stoke that they can come back and
they did it very well."
United led 2-0 inside 16 minutes with goals from
Robin van Persie and Angel di Maria. Leonardo
Ulloa pulled one back for Leicester in the 17th
minute before Ander Herrara put United 3-1 up after
57 minutes.
Leicester then replied with four goals from a David
Nugent penalty after 62 minutes, an equaliser from
Esteban Cambiasso after 64 minutes, the fourth
from Vardy after 79 minutes and the fifth from Ulloa
with an 83rd minute penalty.
"I cannot say that I am happy," Van Gaal said. "In
the world of football, these matches happen. I was
a coach at Barcelona in my first year and we were
3-0 ahead, with 15 minutes to play and we lost 3-4.
"It is not good because we have the game in our
pocket and gave it away. Not because ofLeicester,
we gave it away and I don't like that."
Leicester manager Nigel Pearson said: "Back to
back wins in the Premier League is never easy,
especially for a promoted side.
"To back up the Stoke win against one of the big
forces in English football is very satisfying. When
you add to that coming from 3-1 down, it is a
testament to the quality, belief and spirit among us.
All in all we got things right tactically. We were
always in the game because we matched them up.
"The most important thing is we continued in a
positive vein. It is not a case of being positive and
also being naive. You need to find the right way to
approach games. In the end we were full value for
it."
FIRST WIN
In the other early match West Bromwich Albion
climbed off the bottom of the table when they won
their first match of the season, 1-0 at out-of-sorts
Tottenham Hotspur who started the season well but
have now lost their last two home matches.
The only goal at White Hart Lane was headed home
by James Morrison after 74 minutes.
But all the drama came at Leicester where United
raced into a 2-0 lead after 16 minutes with a header
from Van Persie and a brilliant chip from Di Maria.
Leicester struck back immediately when a Vardy
cross found Ulloa who headed past David De
Geafrom 10 metres out.
United appeared to have secured all three points
when Herrera back-heeled them 3-1 ahead after 57
minutes.
Leicester replied when Nugent scored from the spot
after 62 minutes before Cambiasso equalised with a
low left shot two minutes later to make it 3-3.
The penalty though, was the turning point of the
game and was a controversial decision by
refereeMark Clattenburg who allowed Vardy to
barge Rafael just outside the box.
As the two players continued to tussle, Rafael
brought down the striker and Clattenburg pointed to
the spot with Nugent converting.
That made it 3-2 to United but Leicester were level
two minutes later when Cambiasso scored and
Vardy then put Leicester ahead for the first time
making it 4-3 after Juan Mata lost possession.
Ulloa cracked home the fifth from the spot after
Blackett was sent off for another challenge on
Vardy.
The result sent Leicester rocketing up to sixth in the
table with United languishing in 13th spot.
The only goal at White Hart Lane came after 74
minutes when Morrison rose unmarked to head
home a corner to give West Brom all three points
against a lacklustre Spurs side who only had one
shot on target from substitute Roberto Soldado late
in the game.
In Sunday's later matches champions Manchester
City were facing league leaders Chelsea at theEtihad
Stadium while Everton were playing Crystal Palace
at Goodison Park.
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