Leicester manager Enzo Maresca hailed Hamza Choudhury’s defensive heroics after his side beat West Brom 2-1 at the King Power Stadium to edge closer to promotion.
Maresca’s side moved back to the top of the Championship with goals from Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy, who missed a penalty in the first half.
Albion dominated the game but midfielder Hamza Choudhury was the Foxes’ hero clearing off the line three times.
The visitors could only find the net once when captain Jed Wallace reduced the two-goal deficit for Carlos Corberan’s side with 14 minutes left.
Leicester were helped hugely by Choudhury’s inspired last-ditch defending and Maresca hailed his man-of-the-match performance.
Maresca said: “I’ve never seen three goal-line clearances from one player. He played as a goalkeeper at times.
“Hamza is probably the only guy whose contract we renewed this season. We made him one of the captains. With us, on the pitch and off the pitch, he has always been very good.
Maresca celebrated with his players at the final whistle, but says he knows the job is far from done.
The Italian coach said: “It was a crazy game. We need still two wins, now we have to look at the next game.
“Every time you win, you see yourself closer and you celebrate. But it’s not over, we have to finish the job. It was only 12 months ago that we were relegated, it’s not easy to come back.
“I just said to Carlos Corberan that we have been lucky in this game. And he said to me: ‘You have been lucky here, but in the last two games, you have been completely unlucky.’”
Albion’s play-off hopes remain in the balance after two successive defeats but Corberan says he is ready for the challenge with two games left.
The Spanish coach said: “It’s excellent! I love this pressure. I am preparing for this – I am ready to fight until the last minute of the last game. We’re in a good position to fight for that, I’m proud of what we’re doing.
“The play off is a step to promotion. There are amazing teams here, who have made a big financial investment, but we have two games to achieve the play offs. I don’t care whether we’re fifth or sixth. I want the most points we can achieve. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
Corberan admitted losing to Leicester, after having so much of the game, was hard to take, adding: “This was not a fair result, we did everything but put the ball in the net until late on.
“We created more chances than the best team in the division, and I’m proud of that. But I’ve never seen one player make three goal-line clearances before, that was hard to accept.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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