Burnley 1-1 Leicester: Kelechi Iheanacho’s exquisite volley cancels out Matej Vydra’s early strike

Wilfred Ndidi clipped a pass into the Burnley box and Kelechi Iheancho peeled away from Ben Mee. 

The Leicester striker demonstrated perfect technique, keeping track of the ball as it dropped over his shoulder before lashing it home on the volley with his left foot.

It was a wonderful goal and one worthy of winning any game. Unfortunately for Leicester, it didn’t. We were 34 minutes in at Turf Moor when Iheanacho cancelled out Matej Vydra’s early strike and that’s how it stayed. 

It was a night of frustration for Jamie Vardy as Leicester City were held to a draw at Burnley 

Kasper Schmeichel was at his brilliant best on a number of occasions in the second-half 

Kelechi Iheanacho equalised in the 34th minute for the visitors with a well-taken volley 

The Nigerian showed supreme technique to level the score 11 minutes before the interval 

Matej Vydra had given Burnley the perfect start, capitalising on a mistake to score early on 

The Burnley striker scored in the fourth minute after Hamza Choudhury’s misplaced pass 

On another night, this could be viewed as a poor result for a Leicester side looking for a win to consolidate their place in the top-four.

After successive defeats to Slavia Prague and Arsenal, the last thing Brendan Rodgers needed was to lose three in a row for the first time as Leicester boss amid fears his team could suffer another end-of-season meltdown.

This should go down as a rather good point, though. 

Leicester are riddled with injuries and came up against a feisty Burnley side stung by Sunday’s tame surrender at Tottenham.

The visitors conceded an awful goal less than four minutes into a thoroughly entertaining game and were thankful to Kasper Schmeichel for two outstanding saves from Chris Wood and James Tarkowski to keep them on par.

‘That’s why he is one of the top keepers at this level,’ said Rodgers. 

‘There are moments when it looks like it’s going to be a goal and he pulls off a save. 

‘He always produces for us and was outstanding when he had to be tonight.

‘It was a brilliant goal (by Iheanacho), good movement from the two strikers and fabulous technique.

‘Overall we take our point. We’re not in the top-four until the season is finished.   

‘We have to go into the next game and keep working every day. 

‘Everyone is talking about the injury list but we have to deal with it.’

Rodgers confirmed that Harvey Barnes will have knee surgery on Thursday, and the absence of Jonny Evans here meant that Leicester were forced to drop midfielder Ndidi into the middle of a back-three.

It played a part in Leicester conceding early on when Ndidi played the ball out to Hamza Choudhury whose return pass fell well short of his team-mate. 

Vydra scored his first Premier League goal in 13 months to give the hosts a dream start at home

Iheanacho’s equaliser was even better though, as he connected perfectly with a lofted pass 

The fault lay with Choudhury, no doubt, but Ndidi was slower to react than Vydra who showed more desire to win a 50-50 challenge on the edge of the box. 

The Burnley striker took aim before despatching a clinical finish past Schmeichel – his first Premier League goal in 375 days.

‘An awful goal, poor from our perspective,’ admitted Rodgers.

Choudhary failed to make amends when presented with a chance in front of goal from Timothy Castagne’s cross, Iheanacho flashed another effort wide and Youri Tielemans brought a smart save from Pope.

Burnley also had their chances when two slips from Caglar Soyuncu allowed Vydra to threaten a second and Wood’s volley to bring a smart save from Schmeichel. 

Schmeichel’s outstretched left hand to deny Chris Wood was the best save of the night 

Youri Tielemans hit the post in the closing stages but both teams had to settle for a point

It was nothing compared to the two stops he produced either side of half-time. The first came when he got down at his near post to prevent James Tarkowski’s header from crossing the line.

The second was even better in the 49th minute when Wood headed goalwards from Matt Lowton’s cross and Schmeichel flung himself to his left to turn the ball away.

Both teams also hit the post, Ashley Westwood volleying against the foot of the upright and Tielemens seeing his effort deflected onto the woodwork by Jack Cork.

It meant a fourth straight draw at home in the league for Burnley but, like Leicester, a point that nudges them closer to safety is not to be sniffed at.

‘Leicester are equalling Man City away from home so they’re no mugs,’ said Dyche, who has enough injuries of his own to contend with. ‘You can’t be too greedy and the performance was important, getting back to what we are about.’

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