King Power Stadium
Derby County suffered their first defeat in five Sky Bet Championship matches as Leicester City ran out 2-1 winners at King Power Stadium.
Rhian Brewster cancelled out Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s early opener in a frantic opening ten minutes, before Jordan James notched on the brink of half-time to give the Foxes all three points.
Derby could have been ahead inside the first 90 seconds. First, Patrick Agyemang drew a corner before Liam Thompson sliced Matt Clarke’s knockdown over the bar from a subsequent throw-in.
But it was Leicester who took the lead with just six minutes on the clock. Ghanian winger Abdul Fatawu jinked his way to the byline, before turning in a right-footed low cross for De Cordova-Reid to sweep a first-time finish into the bottom corner.
The Rams responded immediately, levelling through Brewster. Agyemang played in former Fox Callum Elder down the left, whose lay-off picked out the waiting Brewster - holding his run on the edge of the box - to guide home via a slight deflection off Luke Thomas.
After two goals inside the opening ten minutes, both sides became becalmed. A Hamza Choudhury strike from distance and a Thomas snapshot for the home side the only efforts of note in the middle of the half.
Some superb work from Sondre Langås - operating at right back for the evening - almost led to a second for the Rams. Plucking the ball of out of the Leicester sky, the Norwegian skipped past Thomas to fizz in a wicked ball towards Brewster, who failed to keep his header on target.
Leicester regained the lead four minutes before half-time. A loose ball fell to Thomas, who clipped over the top into the left channel for the onrushing James, who held off Thompson and the sliding Clarke to cushion past Jacob Widell Zetterström into the bottom corner.
After the restart, Derby pushed for a second equaliser of the night but found it difficult to craft regular clear-cut openings.
Agyemang proved a handful, as ever, outmuscling Foxes defender Ben Nelson in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle before curling an effort towards goal, although it had lost all venom by the time it deflected through to Jakub Stolarczyk.
The Rams’ tails were up again a minute later when Bobby Clark burst into the Leicester penalty area. This time, Nelson arrived in the nick of time to block a goal-bound effort from Derby’s on-loan midfielder.
Welshman James almost notched his second of the game midway through the second period, but turned his low effort wide, as the chances began to dry up for the Foxes.
Derby’s threat down the left-hand flank was almost rewarded on three occasions in the closing stages. First, Clarke headed over a wicked Elder cross, before the same supplier almost picked out Langås at the back post, only for Thomas to pinch it off his toes at the vital moment.
Winger Corey Blackett-Taylor then fired across goal for fellow substitute Andi Weimann, with the 34-year-old’s first-time strike a whisker away from locating the bottom corner.
The Rams continued to push for a late leveller, but the hosts held on to claim the points.
Leicester City: Stolarczyk (GK), Nelson, Okoli, James, Fatawu (Monga 69), Ayew (S Thomas 65), Mavididi, De Cordova-Reid (Ramsey 65) (Page 69), Choudhury (C) (Ricardo 51), Skipp, L Thomas.
Unused Substitutes: Begović (GK), Faes, Carranza, Aluko.
Derby County: Zetterström (GK), Clarke, Langås (C), Agyemang, Brewster (Blackett-Taylor 67), Thompson, Elder (Jackson 89), Brereton Díaz (Salvesen 67), Sanderson, Adams (Travis 89), Clark (Weimann 73).
Unused Substitutes: O’Donnell (GK), Forsyth, Batth, Nelson.
The Rams are back o home turf on New Year's Day to take on Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship at Pride Park Stadium (3pm kick-off).
