Diogo Jota completed a hat-trick in injury time to snatch a thrilling victory for Wolves, which punished a dire Leicester defensive display to increase the pressure on Foxes boss Claude Puel.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Diogo Jota (left) vies with Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi
London:
Leicester attempted to play offside in the final added minute and Jota was left unmarked to turn in a Raul Jimenez cross, moving his side to eighth in the Premier League table, a place above its opponents.
The Portuguese forward had opened the scoring by prodding home at the back post, with Ryan Bennett heading a second to prompt chants of “sacked in the morning” being aimed at Puel.
Clearly angry in the opening 45 minutes, the Leicester boss saw his side hit back within six minutes of the restart — first through Demarai Gray’s solo run and finish, and then a Conor Coady own goal. But after digging itself out of trouble, Leicester’s defence was again undone by a Ruben Neves long ball for Jota to power in his second, only for Wes Morgan to head a late equaliser which appeared to have earned it a point that had seemed so unlikely for much of the game.
Wolves, which beat Leicester 4-3 the last time this fixture was played in the top flight at Molineux in 2003, had other ideas and, in a chaotic finish, Jota won it with Leicester again a mess at the back. Puel is the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post but his side came into the fixture with three wins from its past five league games.
Criticism from the Foxes fanbase suggests a dislike of a pragmatic style of play but his side was simply charitable on Saturday, with the Frenchman describing the display as “naive”.
While Wolves was intense in its play early on, each time it came forward it seemed to have the visitor chasing shadows, with Morgan exposed at times and Danny Simpson punished as Jota stole in to prod the opener from six yards.
A dramatic climax at Molineux produced scenes of stark contrast — with Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo being sent to the stands for racing to celebrate the winner with his players, as Puel put his hands over his face to show the strain of defeat.
Leicester attempted to play offside in the final added minute and Jota was left unmarked to turn in a Raul Jimenez cross, moving his side to eighth in the Premier League table, a place above its opponents.
The Portuguese forward had opened the scoring by prodding home at the back post, with Ryan Bennett heading a second to prompt chants of “sacked in the morning” being aimed at Puel.
Clearly angry in the opening 45 minutes, the Leicester boss saw his side hit back within six minutes of the restart — first through Demarai Gray’s solo run and finish, and then a Conor Coady own goal. But after digging itself out of trouble, Leicester’s defence was again undone by a Ruben Neves long ball for Jota to power in his second, only for Wes Morgan to head a late equaliser which appeared to have earned it a point that had seemed so unlikely for much of the game.
Wolves, which beat Leicester 4-3 the last time this fixture was played in the top flight at Molineux in 2003, had other ideas and, in a chaotic finish, Jota won it with Leicester again a mess at the back. Puel is the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post but his side came into the fixture with three wins from its past five league games.
Criticism from the Foxes fanbase suggests a dislike of a pragmatic style of play but his side was simply charitable on Saturday, with the Frenchman describing the display as “naive”.
While Wolves was intense in its play early on, each time it came forward it seemed to have the visitor chasing shadows, with Morgan exposed at times and Danny Simpson punished as Jota stole in to prod the opener from six yards.