Crystal Palace 1-1 Leicester: Harvey Barnes scores solo goal to cancel out Wilfried Zaha’s volley

Leicester’s hopes of coming to within a point of leaders Liverpool were foiled by the unlikely combination of a misfiring Kelechi Iheanacho and an enraged Ray Lewington.

Iheanacho missed from the penalty spot as the visitors dominated the opening 45 minutes without reward and Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson credited his side-kick Lewington for producing an emphatic reaction in the second half.

Wilf Zaha volleyed Palace into the lead with a clinical counter-attack and Hodgson’s team were within seven minutes of victory when Harvey Barnes conjured a fabulous equaliser.

Harvey Barnes scored a fine solo goal to earn Leicester a point in a 1-1 draw vs Crystal Palace

Harvey Barnes scored a fine solo goal to earn Leicester a point in a 1-1 draw vs Crystal Palace

The Englishman twisted, turned and fired home to deny Palace an unlikely victory

The Englishman twisted, turned and fired home to deny Palace an unlikely victory

The goal fired past Guaita sees Barnes continue his fine form for the Foxes this season

The goal fired past Guaita sees Barnes continue his fine form for the Foxes this season

‘We should win the game,’ said Rodgers. ‘We had good control of the first half with the penalty and other chances we should have put away, without any real defensive problems.’

Iheanacho, selected up front to give Jamie Vardy a breather, was the chief culprit, starting with the penalty awarded for a foul by James Tomkins on Luke Thomas.

Tomkins, on his first start since February, was beaten by the pace of left-back Thomas, surging forward to nudge the ball away and crash to the turf.

Referee Graham Scott pointed straight to the spot and Leicester had their 10th penalty in 16 games. 

Iheanacho stepped up in search of his first Premier League goal of the campaign but his penalty lacked conviction. ‘He just seemed a bit hesitant,’ said Rodgers. ‘In practice the day before he scored five out of five, so he was confident.

‘It’s just unfortunate. It’s always difficult when you’re behind one of the world’s best strikers but he’s made an impact in the Europa League and he always shows a positive attitude. This was an opportunity for him to get a goal and it didn’t.’

Iheanacho stuttered in his run-up and tried to sweep the ball up and over the goalkeeper with his left foot. Vicente Guaita read his intentions, thrusting up a hand to make the save as he dived to his left.

Kelechi Iheanacho missed a first-half penalty for Leicester after being brought in to start

Kelechi Iheanacho missed a first-half penalty for Leicester after being brought in to start

Wilfried Zaha put Palace ahead just before the hour mark with a lovely side-footed volley

Wilfried Zaha put Palace ahead just before the hour mark with a lovely side-footed volley 

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS

Crystal Palace (442): Guaita 7; Clyne 6, Tomkins 6, Kouyate 7, Mitchell 6.5; Townsend 7, Milivojevic 6.5, Riedewald 6 (McArthur 74, 5), Schlupp 6 (Ayew 84); Benteke 5, Zaha 7.

Subs: Butland, Ward, Van Aanholt, Sakho, McCarthy, Batshuayi, Eze.

Goals: Zaha 58

Manager: Roy Hodgson 6

Leicester (4231): Schmeichel 6; Justin 7.5, Amartey 7, Evans 7, Thomas 7; Choudhury 6 (Tielemans 57, 6), Mendy 6.5; Perez 6, Praet 6 (Vardy 65, 6), Barnes 7; Iheanacho 5 (Gray 72, 5).

Subs: Ward, Soyuncu, Morgan, Albrighton, Ndidi, Fuchs.

Goals: Barnes 83

Bookings: Choudhury

Manager: Brendan Rodgers 6

Ref: Graham Scott 6

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The Leicester striker missed another wonderful opening before half time. This time, heading over at the near post from a cross by Dennis Praet.

Ayoze Perez also struck the frame of the goal from a deflected cross, in the first half, and Praet lashed the rebound high and wide.

Palace offered little. There was a glimpse of a chance when Zaha seized on a mistake by Hamza Choudhury and broke clear only to be effectively smothered by a combination of Daniel Amartey and Choudhury, who recovered quickly.

Zaha appealed for a foul, referee Scott gave him a corner and, from the set-piece, Christian Benteke climbed high and headed over when he ought to have hit the target.

Andros Townsend turned a sharp chance wide but they performed with more purpose and intensity after the shock of the furious rant from Lewington.  

‘We were not at all happy with our first-half,’ said Hodgson. ‘We were dumbfounded by how passive we were. They were more aggressive than us, and we were pressured into mistakes.

‘Ray was apoplectic, and that’s extremely rare. It was more positive in the second half but it almost cost my assistant a heart attack to produce that energy.’

Zaha rewarded them with the opening goal, finishing a move he started with a break out of defence and a pass to Townsend on the right flank.

Townsend turned inside onto his left foot and picked out Zaha who continued his run and squeezed a volley between ‘keeper Kasper Schmeichel and the post from a tight angle. 

The goal saw Palace take an unlikely lead after being dominated in the first half by the Foxes

The goal saw Palace take an unlikely lead after being dominated in the first half by the Foxes

Roy Hodgson will have been encouraged by the improvement he saw from his side

Roy Hodgson will have been encouraged by the improvement he saw from his side

It was the eighth of the season for Zaha, which is twice as many as he scored in the whole of last season. It also gave Palace something to protect and they almost clung on for the three points.

Barnes denied them victory with a terrific goal. He collected a header from Jonny Evans, wriggled clear of a challenge and fired a crisp shot past Guaita from the edge of the penalty area.

It means Palace are without a win in five but at least earned a point after two heavy defeats, either side of Christmas with 10 goals conceded and none scored in games against Liverpool and Aston Villa. 

‘It was important to put a stop to an unpleasant run,’ said Hodgson. ‘The last two games have been very painful and hurt us deeply but this makes us feel better about ourselves.

‘Staying in the League this year more than any other is not going to be easy. We could find ourselves quite quickly dragged into a relegation battle.

‘No question it was a step in the right direction. Liverpool knocked us back and this was a daunting task but we handled it well.’

Relive all the action as it happened including with Sportsmail’s CIAN CHEESBROUGH here…

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