Leicester Again Needs A Late Goal To Get One Point From Palace

JAKARTA - Leicester City needed a late goal again to pick points from Crystal Palace headquarters. Brendan Rodgers' men drew 1-1 in the 16th Premier League match at Selhurst Park Stadium, London, Monday, December 28 evening.

Harvey Barnes scored in the 83rd minute to bring Leicester level after being left behind by Wilfried Zaha's volley in the 58th minute, Antara noted on the official Premier League website.

The goal seemed to repeat the same achievement that was achieved by Leicester when they held Manchester United's 2-2 draw thanks to a goal five minutes before the end of the Boxing Day match at the King Power Stadium, two days ago.

Leicester actually appeared to be pressing from the start of the match and had the opportunity to open up the advantage when they got a penalty in the 17th minute, but Kelechi Iheanacho who was the executioner found his execution countered by goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

Then in the 25th minute, Ayoze Perez almost scored for the visitors but his shot hit the crossbar and Dennis Praet's throwing ball ended high.

Five minutes later, Iheanacho had the chance to pay for his mistake when Barnes sent in a measured cross but the young Nigerian striker who graduated from Manchester City's academy failed to head the ball clean.

The scoring lasted until halftime and Palace had a chance to steal the lead four minutes into the second half when Jeffrey Schlupp sent in a drag that Zaha's strike failed to complete.

The deadlock finally broke in the 58th minute when Zaha stood free enough to greet Andros Townsend's cross with a volley that beat goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to give Palace a 1-0 lead over Leicester.

The goal made Leicester even more eager to attack, but their hard work only paid off in the 83rd minute when Barnes pulled off a captivating individual action on the edge of the box before firing a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net that was beyond Guaita's reach.

Leicester struggled to turn things around but Barnes' strike and Demarai Gray's free kick still failed to hit the mark and the score was 1-1 until the end.

The draw made Leicester temporarily move up to second place in the standings with a collection of 29 points, while Palace (19) finished 13th.

This weekend, Leicester and Palace will return to play for the start of 2021. Leicester travel to Newcastle United's headquarters on Sunday, January 3, a day after Palace host Sheffield United at Selhurst Park.