Leicester City 2 West Bromwich Albion 2
Is the pressure getting to Leicester? The Foxes blew the chance to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League table as they were held to a 2-2 draw by lowly West Brom in a thriller at the King Power Stadium.
Tottenham and Arsenal both have the chance to make up ground on Leicester tonight, and should Spurs win at West Ham then they will go top of the table on goal difference.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri put a positive spin on the result, although in private surely he'll be ruing his side's inability to finish off the Baggies. "I am happy, not that we didn't get the three points because you can't always get the three points, but our performance was fantastic," said the Italian. "I want to create a lot of chances and sooner or later we score. Tonight wasn't the right moment but we are alive and we fight to the end. Everybody is ready to fight, to play well, to create chances. Only the victory was missing."
But at this stage of the season, victories are the only things that matter, and Leicester created enough opportunities against West Brom to have claimed the three points. In all they had 22 attempts on goal but only two found their mark - Danny Drinkwater's deflected shot, to cancel out Salomon Rondon's opening goal for the visitors, and Andy King's fine effort at the end of the first-half.
That put Leicester 2-1 up at the break, but five minutes into the second-half Craig Gardner equalised with a free-kick and that's how the scores remained.
But it was not for want of trying on Leicester's part. Twice they hit the bar as the King Power Stadium willed them to find the winner but with Ben Foster also pulling off a couple of sharp saves in the West Brom goal from Jeffrey Schlupp and Wes Morgan, Leicester had to settle for a share of the points.
"We tried to do everything and well done to my players," reflected Ranieri. "We never never give up. We always try the best in every situation. Every team plays football and we have to find the solution and try to win. It is important not to lose the match too as they could have counter-attacked."
Asked if he considered the two dropped points a serious blow to Leicester's title hopes, Ranieri replied: "There are Tottenham and Manchester City in the race to fight for the title and there is little Leicester to fight against them. We are confident. Why not win it? Be positive."
The point was another feather in the cap of West Brom, who have now lost just two of their last ten league games - pulling them 12 points clear of the relegation zone - and manager Tony Pulis was clearly a satisfied man at the end of the night. "It's another point on the way for us," he said. "It's important for us to get to 40 points and we are happy with the way things are going."
As to who he'd like to be crowned champions in May, Pulis was refreshingly honest in his answer. "I'd love to see Leicester win the title."
