The
league leader's hopes of celebrating its first ever English Premier
League title were put on hold Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Manchester
United.
The Foxes, who at the start
of this season were ranked as 5000-1 outsiders to win the league,
needed victory at Old Trafford to secure the title.
But
United started the match determined to spoil the party, playing with
verve and freedom and looking nothing like the side that has appeared
shackled in attack so often this season.
The 20-time champion quickly deflated the traveling Leicester fans with a goal inside 10 minutes.
Antonio Valencia stood up a cross that
evaded everyone in the penalty area, before Anthony Martial ghosted in
at the far post and swept the ball past Kasper Schmeichel.
Leicester,
conversely, looked edgy and nervous and had Schmeichel -- son of
legendary United goalkeeper Peter -- to thank for not going two goals
down after he pulled off a brilliant save low to his right.
Sunday
was the first time that the Leicester keeper had played at Old
Trafford, where his father won five Premier League titles during his
spell as a United player.
Morgan equalizer
However,
a spirited Leicester team haven't come this far -- the draw put them
eight points ahead of second place Tottenham Hotspur -- for nothing.
Nine
minutes after Martial put United ahead, Leicester captain Wes Morgan
got his head onto Danny Drinkwater's free-kick to divert the ball past a
helpless David de Gea.
With
tensions rising, United's Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini was lucky
to escape a red card after appearing to land an elbow on Robert Huth's
throat.
If referee Michael Oliver failed to see the incident, Fellaini potentially faces a retrospective ban.
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