Leicester City 2 - 2 West Ham Premier League 2015/16 As it happened

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Leicester 2 - 2 West Ham

Leicester showed some real spirit to rescue a point with ten men after Jamie Vardy was sent off with a second yellow card for diving. Vardy will regret his unnecessary piece of simulation as up to that point Leicester were leading the match, comfortably in control.

Vardy's 18th minute goal was cancelled out by Andy Carroll's penalty after Wes Morgan brought down Winston Reid off the ball on a corner. Things got worse for Leicester when Cresswell smashed the sweetest of strikes into the top corner, but Ulloa's last minute penalty drew parity and saved Leicester from defeat.

1 point gained or two points dropped?

The blue horde was furious at full-time and John Moss won't have any streets named after him in Leicester City, he was roundly booed off. Leicester's 8 point lead may be cut to five by Spurs who face  Stoke on Monday evening. 

 How it happened:

Min 96 | Full-Time! Leicester 2-2 West Ham.

Min 95 | GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLL!!  Leo Ulloa rescues a point for the Foxes.

Min 94 | Penalty for Leicester!!

Min 92 | 2 mins to go...  Leicester 1-2 West Ham.

Min 88 | Leicester on the front foot, the crowd willing them on..  Fuchs long throw, Huth hauled to the ground by Ogbonna! John Moss waves it away, blue fury at the King Power.

Min 86 | GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLAAAAZOOO!!  Cresswell crashes a volley into the top corner! Leicester 1-2 West Ham.

Min 84 | Andy Carroll sends Schmeichel the wrong way. Leicester 1-1 West Ham

Min 83 | Penalty!! The ref blows for a Morgan challenge on Winston Reid. The Leicester captain has his hands on Reid and the West Ham player made sure the ref saw it. Less contact than most challenges from corners these days..

Min 81 | Leicester play keep-ball in the corner, Ulloa works space and keeps it excellently again. 9 to go.

Min 79 | The King Power breathes again as Payet can't find his curve. Over.

Min 77 | Free-kick in a dangerous position for West Ham, Payet poised, Morgan booked. Mahrez brought off for Amartey, standing ovation for Mahrez.

Min 76 | West Ham's only plan seem to be to get it to Payet wide on the right and capitalize on the quality of his crosses.

Min 73 | Emenike shoots from the impossible when his team were well-placed. Anpother poor decision.

Min 72 | Moses off, Valencia on, West Ham's front line haven't inspired today, they have 18 mins to turn this one around.

Min 69 | Ulloa has done well since he's come on, keeping the ball in tricky situations, winning frees and relieving pressure from his defence. Ranieri would take a 1-0 with two grateful, trembling hands right now.

Min 67 | The Foxes roar raises the roof as Leicester fight forward, they won't give this one up easily.

Min 65 | 35 minutes is a long time to play with 10 men, Leicester holding on so far.

Min 61 | The shape of the game completely changed now, Leicester much deeper, West Ham dominating possession, Payet's corner cleared, but West Ham win it back and Winston Reid almost scores a spectacular backheel a la Vardy vs Germany from Payet's cross, it clips the post. Payet's delivery looks like it might be key for the Hammers.

Min 58 | Vardy shown a second yellow for a dive in the area. There was contact but Vardy did launch himself into the air unneccessarily. Leicester down to ten, Okazaki is sacrificed for Ulloa who will play up front alone. Huge challenge for Leicester, big opportunity for West Ham.

Min 57 | Vardy sent off!

Min 55 | Uuuuuuu.....  Vardy almost makes it two as Leicester win it in the middle again, Okazaki in space to shoot, drags it and Vardy nearly bags his second.

Min 54 | West Ham have started with a little more intent, playing higher up the pitch, Leicester still look like they want it more.

Min 50 | Carroll fires a warning shot from a corner, powerful header not far wide.

Min 46 | Second half just kicked off. Obiang off, Andy Carroll is on for the second half, a little indication of Bilic's plan.

Half-Time musings

Is Leicester City's 'miracle' simply a case of having all the right pieces in all the right places? That and an awful lot of self-belief, energy and tenacity. West Ham look exhausted and devoid of any idea on how they're going to stop this Leicester locomotive.

West Ham cannot keep the ball. Simple as that. Between Kante, Mahrez and Drinkwater's efforts and the tireless Vardy and Okazaki working back, there's nowhere for them to go but long. West Ham's midweek Man United FA Cup clash looks to have taken a lot out of them, while Leicester are fresh and revving. If Bilic's plan is to play long, then he could do worse than bring Andy Carrol on.

Min 47 | Half-Time! Leicester 1-0 West Ham

Min 44 | Gossamer again from Mahrez, every touch is is a lesson in poise and balance, Huth came clattering up from the back, Mahrez released him with an effortless little ball in the midfield but Huth's wide pass wasn't good enough. Another promising counter from Leicester.

Min 43 | Case in point as Payet is booked for a tackle on Vardy on the halfway line.

Min 42 | Real lack of belief about this West Ham side so far, they haven't got their threatening players anywhere near the right areas of the pitch to cause any damage.

Min 40 | West Ham captain Noble into the book for a late one on Drinkwater. 

Min 36 | Huge round of applause for Mahrez at the King Power for scintillating little piece of skill in the midfield, a flicked pass of some merit.

Min 32 | West Ham don't look to have the tools to hurt Leicester at all, their long ball approach not troubling the L's, set-pieces seem to be their best hope.

Min 28 | Yellow card for Jamie Vardy for a late challenge on Kouyate, an honest attempt to get the ball in another tigerish tackle, looks like the yellow came more for an accumulation of borderline tackles from Leicester...  They don't hold back in their tireless pursuit of possession.

Min 23 | Captain Morgan gets a bit spicy in the midfield with Emenike.

Min 18 | Mahrez, Kante and Vardy, Leicester's holy trinity, manufacture another brilliant goal, Mahrez carried, Kante slid it to Vardy to the left of the box and his left-footed finish was struck with real belief right into the corner. No less than they've deserved.

Min 18 | GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!   VARDY! 1-0

Min 12 | All Leicester here.

Min 10 | Uyyyyyyyy...  Should have been 1-0 to Leicester, Albrighton's free kick finds Huth who had muscled his way to win it but it bounces wide with the goal gaping. Close.

Min 9 | Shouts from the home crowd for a pen as Vardy bundled over in the box, then Ogbanna blows Okazaki over, free kick.

Min 7 | West Ham have set up a bit more defensively than usual, playing 

Min 2 | So close! Another mini-miracle for Leicester as Kouyate's header comes off one post, then off the other, then into Schmeichel's hands.. Incredible! Schmeichel's touch vital to keep that out.

Min 1 | Off we go!

9 points to glory, can Leicester get 3 of them here?

Premier League leaders Leicester City host West Ham at the King Power stadium this afternoon, needing just three more wins to seal the league title and give the season the fairytale ending football fans around the world are hoping to see. The match starts at 14.30 (CEST).

Leicester play before second placed Tottenham (who play Stoke on Monday night), meaning they would be sitting a full 10 points clear at the top for over a day at least if they win.

Ranieri has a fully fit squad, meaning he’s likely to name the same starting 11 that he’s used in 11 out of the last 13 games.

All eyes are on Jamie Vardy, Leicester’s striker who is now on 21 league goals in this fantasy season. The last Leicester player to go past 20 in the top flight? Gary Lineker in 1984-85. (And the man who may soon be presenting in the buff). 

As Leicester's title run-in reaches it's climax we looked back at what people were saying about them before the season started, and it makes for very interesting reading.

The Teams: