Leicester City vs Swansea City reaction: Foxes' stunning revival continues as Swans miss out on historic landmark

Leicester City 2 Swansea City 0: Visitors could have overtaken their highest-ever Premier League points tally

Samuel Stevens
Saturday 18 April 2015 17:26 BST
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Leicester City dragged themselves off the bottom of the Premier League with a third consecutive victory to keep their stunning renaissance intact.

Goals from Leonardo Ulloa and Andy King, in between 70 minutes of palpable tension, saw off Swansea City and sends the Foxes level on points with 17th placed Hull.

Becoming the first side in the bottom eight this season to win three matches in a row, victory at Burnley next weekend could - quite remarkably - send them three points clear of danger.

Just a month ago, following the demoralising 4-3 defeat to Tottenham, the Foxes were seven points adrift. To say this result was never in doubt, however, would be stretching the confines of reality.

Marcin Wasilewski keeps it tight at the back for Leicester
Marcin Wasilewski keeps it tight at the back for Leicester (Getty)

Leicester were given a heroes' welcome by their supporters as they emerged from the tunnel, many of whom had given up all hope of an unlikely revival.

They went into this fixture on the back of two successive victories for the first time since September, when Nigel Pearson's men secured that remarkable 5-3 win over Manchester United.

It's been almost cataclysmic since, though, with the Foxes going 13 matches without a win until the 1-0 success at Hull City just after Christmas.

The debacle which followed their manager's 'sacking' in February - days after appearing to 'throttle' James McArthur in a seemingly light-hearted exchange - threatened turn a bleak campaign into a potentially disastrous one.

But victories over West Ham, West Brom and now Garry Monk's Swansea have changed all that.

Nigel Pearson watches on
Nigel Pearson watches on (Getty)

After this weekend, they travel to relegation rivals Burnley before a trio of home encounters against Chelsea, Newcastle and Southampton. Soon followed by a trip to Sunderland, City then face Queens Park Rangers on the final day.

They made a frantic start to this match, in the knowledge that a win would take them off the bottom, as Jamie Vardy dispossessed the Swans straight from kick-off before charging towards Lukasz Fabianski's goal.

Had he been able to forge a route through, it would surely have been the fastest goal of the season, but alas he was eventually challenged by Ki Sung-Yueng.

Pearson's tactical tweaks at half-time at the Hawthorns, when his side were 2-1 down, involved hauling Ritchie De Laet off the field in place of Marcin Wasilewski.

Marc Albrighton impressed again for the Foxes
Marc Albrighton impressed again for the Foxes (Getty)

The 51-year-old has always been partial to a bold team selection and this was no different.

Playing 3-4-3 from the outset, the Foxes took the lead after just 15 minutes as Marcin Wasilewski's punt upfield found Wes Morgan in the box, of all people, who took the ball down and offloaded to Leonardo Ulloa to smash home.

The Argentinian had originally been named on the bench for the hosts, but a calf strain sustained by David Nugent in the warm up brought about an unscheduled change.

Ulloa, who has struggled for goals after exploding onto the scene back in August, ran straight to the bench to celebrate his first strike since January.

Leicester emerged in the second half with the same vigour and determination with which they started the first. Marc Albrighton glanced his effort just wide before Andrej Kramaric curled over.

The majority of the 31,121 spectators in attendance could hardly believe what they were watching, for this was an assured and confident display from the nearly-men of old.

Swansea manager Garry Monk missed out on the opportunity to better their best ever Premier League points tally
Swansea manager Garry Monk missed out on the opportunity to better their best ever Premier League points tally (Getty Images)

By the time Kramaric had missed his third opportunity - and Ulloa had headed over on a fourth occasion - the optimism was slowly being replaced with dread. Had Leicester missed too many of their chances?

Swansea came to life like a train on the hour-mark as Nelson Oliveira danced past Robert Huth before forcing Kasper Schmeichel into an stunning, if slightly fortuitous, save at point-blanc.

Jonjo Shelvey then found enough room on the edge of the hosts' penalty area to launch a rocket towards the Denmark international goalkeeper.

Vardy, who did nothing to damage his fans' favourite tag in Leicester by scoring the winner last week, then broke free and hurried forwards once more.

One-on-one with Fabianski, Vardy elected to pass to the sprinting Riyad Mahrez, linked with a move to Villarreal in midweek, but the Algerian couldn't loop his effort over the keeper. Cue more agony in the stands.

It was immaterial in the end as Andy King repeated his feat of a fortnight ago, against West Ham, to score in the latter stages to put the game to bed. The revival continues.

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