Sven Goran-Eriksson picks up first win for Leicester City
New manager Sven Goran-Eriksson won his first game in charge of Championship side Leicester City as they beat Leeds 2-1 at Elland Road.
Eriksson’s on loan signing Kyle Naughton scored the Foxes first goal after his shot deflected over Jason Brown in the Leeds goal after 63 minutes.
Substitute Steve Howard scored Leicester’s second goal after he finished off some good play by Andy King.
Leeds rallied and pulled a goal back after Luciano Becchio scored in the 83rd minute, but Leicester managed to hold on to deliver Eriksson his first win.
Leicester set the early pace in the match and King should have scored after he was sent clear only to miss the target with a scuffed effort.
Leicester’s Martyn Waghorn curled an effort over the bar after he was set up by the lively King, while Paul Gallagher failed to connect with a volley when he found himself unmarked in the Leeds box.
Leicester continued to dominate the match and Bruno Berner was unlucky when his shot was tipped onto the bar by Brown.
Leicester’s superiority caused Simon Grayson to make a substitute in the 30th minute and the Leeds manager brought on midfielder Bradley Johnson.
Johnson had Leeds’ best chance of the first half but mistimed his header as the home side started to create a move of their own.
Grayson sent his Leeds team out fired up for the second half after Leicester had dominated proceedings.
Becchio almost scored for Leeds with a header as the Elland Road crowd started to get behind their team.
However, it was Leicester who took the lead. Some poor defending by Leeds’ left back George McCartney allowed Naughton to advance on goal and his shot from just outside the box took a wicked deflection
off Leeds defender Neil Collins before lobbing Brown in goal.
Howard came on for Franck Moussa in the 77th minute and made an immediate impact on the game after he tucked away King’s cross.
Leeds responded straight away when Max Gradel crossed for Becchio to head home and give the Elland Road faithful hope.
Leicester City managed to close out the final few minutes of the game and Leeds failed to create any significant chances to earn a draw.
Eriksson will be satisfied with his start to life at Leicester City and the Foxes fans will have already noticed an improvement in their performances.
If Eriksson can get Leicester to play as well as they did against Leeds on a consistent basis the club may still have a chance at promotion.
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