Title must wait as Leicester are held at Man Utd

Mark Holmes
Wes Morgan: Celebrates Leicester City's equaliser at Manchester United

Wes Morgan: Celebrates Leicester City's equaliser at Manchester United

Leicester City can not yet celebrate winning the Premier League title after being held to a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

A win for Leicester would have given them an unassailable lead over Tottenham at the top of the table, but in the end they might feel pleased to have drawn after coming from behind and then playing the final four minutes plus stoppage time with only 10 men following the sending-off of Danny Drinkwater.

It leaves them needing only two more points from their final two games against Everton and then at Chelsea on the final day, though they could yet be cracking open the champagne on Monday evening should Spurs fail to win at Stamford Bridge.

The Foxes fell behind when Anthony Martial capped a strong start from United with a cool finish, but Wes Morgan headed in an equaliser soon after.

Both sides had chance to win it, but a draw in the end is likely to be a better result for Leicester than United, who are four points behind Manchester City in the final Champions League place with only two games to play.

To their credit, however, United never looked in the mood to roll over for Leicester and their buoyant fans.

The opening half hour was a frenetic affair as the Foxes made an unusually – but understandably – nervy start.

It came as no surprise they were breached early, as Marcus Rashford had already seen a shot blocked, when Martial arrived unmarked to sweep an Antonio Valencia cross under Kasper Schmeichel after eight minutes.

Anthony Martial

It was only the third goal the normally rocksteady Foxes had conceded in eight games and it needed a fine save from Schmeichel to deny Jesse Lingard and prevent it getting worse.

Leicester needed to regroup but did so successfully with Morgan getting away from the erratic Marcos Rojo to reach a Drinkwater free-kick and head a 17th-minute equaliser.

Attention then switched to referee Michael Oliver and a series of big decisions which could have had a significant bearing on the game.

Firstly Lingard seized on poor control by Danny Simpson and threatened to race clear, only to be dragged back by the Leicester defender. Lingard went down, but Oliver did not deem contact strong enough to constitute a foul, much to the relief of Simpson, who on another day might have been sent off.

There was then controversy at the other end as Riyad Mahrez wrong-footed and then collided with Rojo in the penalty area, but again nothing was given.

Riyad Mahrez Marcos Rojo penalty appeal

United midfielder Marouane Fellaini was also lucky to escape punishment after catching Robert Huth with a flailing arm following a tussle that involved the Leicester defender pulling the Belgian’s hair.

The Foxes upped the tempo at the start of the second half. Simpson found space and had a cross deflected just out of Shinji Okazaki’s reach before Leonardo Ulloa headed the resulting corner over.

Ulloa had another good effort deflected wide.

United came back into the game as time ticked away and Chris Smalling went close with a firm header that struck the outside of the post.

Hearts were then in mouths when substitute Memphis went down after contact by Drinkwater on the edge of the area. Leicester were relieved no penalty was given, with a free-kick awarded just outside, but the red card made for anxious times in the closing minutes.