Tom Cannon scored twice on his full Leicester debut as Enzo Maresca’s side strengthened their lead at the top of the Championship with a 4-1 victory over Huddersfield.
The result extended their unbeaten run to 10 games as Leicester aim to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. They now have a 10-point lead ahead of Ipswich.
It was a game of few chances in the first half, but Cannon opened the scoring five minutes before half-time with his first goal for the club.
James Justin’s cross into the 18-yard box was flicked on by Ricardo Pereira and Cannon hit the ball first time to drive it past Lee Nicholls in the Huddersfield goal.
Leicester signed the 21-year-old Cannon from Everton on deadline day last summer, even though the player was carrying a stress fracture in his back.
Maresca went ahead with the deal regardless, saying Cannon was a player for the future. He only made his debut as a substitute three weeks ago against Plymouth.
But with Leicester short on forwards, he was given his chance to start. Jamie Vardy was still missing through injury, and Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho were not named in the squad, with both due to be playing in the Africa Cup of Nations later this month.
Cannon made the most of his opportunity, and he added to his first goal with a second after the break.
Leicester went two up after 47 minutes when Abdul Fatawu found Justin who swung in a cross which was met by captain Pereira, whose header found the far corner.
Cannon scored again in the 61st minute when he collected a through ball from Harry Winks. The Leicester forward held off a challenge from Huddersfield defender Tom Lees before placing his shot past Nicholls.
But Maresca’s side appeared to lose focus after that, and Huddersfield pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute.
Lees met a corner from Sorba Thomas, and Huddersfield captain Michal Helik prodded the ball in from inside the six-yard box.
Darren Moore’s side then came close to scoring a second when Ben Wiles’ shot was deflected for a corner.
With 20 minutes left, Jack Rudoni forced Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen into a save.
But Leicester restored their three-goal lead when Huddersfield substitute Loick Ayina fouled Stephy Mavididi 20 yards from goal. Mavididi took the free-kick himself and bent it through a gap in the Huddersfield wall and saw his shot find the net via the inside of the near post.
Pereira might have made it five for Leicester with three minutes left, but he swept a shot over the bar after being set up by substitute Marc Albrighton.
Huddersfield remain four points above the relegation zone.
Bellingham willing to adapt to new Madrid position
Jude Bellingham feels he is most effective playing further forward but is prepared to accommodate his big-name Real Madrid team-mates by playing a withdrawn role.
Bellingham was a key player as Madrid won LaLiga and the Champions League last season, scoring 23 goals and providing 13 assists while playing predominantly as a false nine.
Following the exit of Karim Benzema, Madrid fielded Bellingham at the tip of a midfield diamond with Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior acting as split strikers.
However, Bellingham has dropped deeper this season following the arrival of Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, playing just 3% of his minutes as a striker or attacking midfielder, with 50% coming in central midfield and 35% off the left flank.
In 2023-24, Bellingham played 69% of his minutes in the most advanced midfield role and 7% as a traditional striker.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Liverpool, Bellingham insisted he is happy to play any role if it contributes to positive results for Los Blancos.
"It's been like any other adaptation," Bellingham told reporters on Tuesday.
"It changes the dynamic, the style of play and the approach, but I've shown that I can play in different positions. I prefer a bit more up front, but it's not important to me.
"I'm willing to play wherever they put me and I'm not affected by the position. We always set the team up to win.
"I joined last summer and the club lost Benzema, one of its best players. There was a gap and it was a way to compensate for this lack of goals.
"This year we have signed one of the best players of this generation, who has scored an unbelievable amount of goals. My role is going to change and I'm totally willing to do that."
Bellingham's goal in Sunday's 3-0 win over Leganes in LaLiga was just his second in all competitions this season, though only Vinicius (six) has bettered his four assists for Madrid.
After travelling to Anfield for their fifth Champions League group-phase game, Madrid host Getafe in LaLiga this weekend.
Lewandowski delighted to join Ronaldo and Messi with Champions League ton
Robert Lewandowski was delighted to join Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as a Champions League centurion in Barcelona's 3-0 win over Brest.
Lewandowski scored twice either side of a Dani Olmo strike as Barca ran out 3-0 victors, leapfrogging the French side in the standings as they moved to 12 points from five games.
The Poland international is just the third player to score 100 goals in the Champions League, after Ronaldo (140) and Messi (129).
The Barca striker, however, took the fewest shots (451) to reach the milestone, with Messi needing 527 to get there, and Ronaldo 793.
Lewandowski netted 17 times in the competition for Borussia Dortmund, 69 times for Bayern Munich and now 15 times for the Blaugrana. Meanwhile, 22 of his Champions League goals have come under Hansi Flick.
"I'm very happy, very happy. 101 goals in the Champions League is great number," Lewandowski told Movistar Plus after the game.
"I didn't think I could score so many goals in the Champions League. To join Messi and Ronaldo... I guess they are good, right?"
In all competitions this season, Lewandowski has now scored 22 goals in 19 appearances – nine more than any other LaLiga player.
Indeed, he is only four goals shy of his final tally for last season (26 in 49 games).
Barca, meanwhile, are the fifth team to win four successive European Cup/Champions League matches by at least three goals, after Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 (five), Bayern in 2020 and 2021 (four on both occasions), Leeds United in 1969 (four) and Reims in 1958 (four).
Their victory came on the back of a disappointing pair of results in LaLiga, where a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad and a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo have allowed Real Madrid to cut their lead at the summit.
"We haven't been playing well in LaLiga lately, but we have a lot of games to play yet. We just have to be patient, we'll score more goals in the end," Lewandowski added.
"We're looking to win every game. If I can score goals to help the team, all the better. We have to win every game until the end of the season."
Head coach Flick heaped praise upon Lewandowski, also saying Barca deserved the three points after racking up 19 shots worth 2.86 expected goals (xG) while limiting Brest to two, worth 0.07 xG.
"Lewandowski is great, I'm delighted with his goals. I think Lewandowski knows he has to score and he is in the position to do it, but the important thing is what the team generates," Flick said.
"Obviously, he knows he has to score and he plays for it, but what this team does is just wonderful.
"I'm very happy. We deserved it, winning by three goals but we could have scored more, but I'm happy either way because delivering a performance like this after Vigo is just great."
Alonso full of praise for Wirtz after man-of-the-match performance against Salzburg
Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso was particularly pleased with the performance of Florian Wirtz during his side's 5-0 victory over RB Salzburg.
The Germany international scored two goals in the match and was named player of the match for the fourth time in five games in the Champions League this season.
The result and performance came at an opportune time for Leverkusen, who were off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool and 1-1 draw at Brest.
Following the win, they currently occupy fifth in the 36-team league, while Wirtz is equal-second in the top goalscorers with five goals.
"We want to help Florian Wirtz, we know how different he is for us. We have to find him at the right moments. We need to have a good structure to help him. This competition is for him, he is a Champions League player," Alonso told reporters.
"Hopefully we can go through to the next round. For Florian, he wants to have a big game. A big game is the best thing for him."
Alonso is hoping that his side can use the performance on Tuesday to pick up in the Bundesliga, where they are fourth despite having won just one of their last four matches.
Having won the domestic double last term though, he is aware there is still room for improvement in their performance.
"We did very well against Salzburg today. We want to build on that against Union [Berlin] on Saturday and maintain the level we have set ourselves," said Alonso.
"There are still ups and downs. We weren't great, but we weren't very bad. But I think there's still room for improvement. We can do better," he said.
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