Match ends, Leicester City 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1.
James Maddison's first league goal of the season helped Leicester come from behind to beat Tottenham in an absorbing encounter at the King Power Stadium.
Maddison drilled a superb low effort into the far corner from distance to lift Brendan Rodgers' side back into the top four of the Premier League at the visitors' expense.
Ricardo Pereira had put the Foxes back on level terms, moments after Spurs had been denied a second goal when Serge Aurier's low drive was disallowed for a marginal offside call against Son Heung-min.
Harry Kane's fourth league goal of the campaign had given Spurs the lead in the first half, the England striker slotting Son's clever flick beyond Kasper Schmeichel despite being knocked off balance by Foxes defender Caglar Soyuncu.
Leicester thought they had opened the scoring themselves when Wilfred Ndidi scored on the rebound after Paulo Gazzaniga spilled Youri Tielemans' effort, but the goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee.
Tightest of VAR calls denies Spurs
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino accused his players of "lacking fight" after they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw with Olympiakos in the Champions League midweek.
The result mirrored their 2-2 draw with north London rivals Arsenal in their previous away league game, with Kane admitting after Wednesday's Group B opener that Spurs had failed to learn from recent mistakes.
Pochettino made six changes to the team that started in Greece, with Hugo Lloris unavailable due to his wife giving birth and Dele Alli left out of the squad altogether. Christian Eriksen, Lucas Moura and Eric Dier all had to settle for places on the bench.
Perhaps as a result, the visitors looked disjointed in the early stages and were fortunate not to fall behind when Ndidi's effort was chalked off.
There was nothing fortunate about Kane's opener 13 minutes later, however.
The England striker managed to latch on to Son's back-heel and despite losing his balance under Soyuncu's challenge, he somehow managed to knock the ball past Jonny Evans before lifting it over Schmeichel into the far corner.
Spurs thought they had doubled their lead when Aurier drilled a powerful drive into the far corner, but Son was adjudged to have been marginally offside in the build-up and the goal was chalked off.
Buoyed by that narrow decision, Leicester threw bodies forward and restored parity through Pereira, before Maddison struck with five minutes remaining to extend Spurs' winless league run away from home to nine games.
Leicester prove top-six credentials
After watching the Foxes slip to their first defeat of the campaign at Old Trafford last weekend, Leicester fans were hopeful that their team could continue their impressive home form against a Spurs side who have looked vulnerable on their travels of late.
They had lost their last three meetings with Tottenham in the Premier League prior to today's game, but this latest performance provided further compelling evidence that Rodgers' team can mount a serious challenge for a top-six finish this season.
Maddison was heavily involved early on, the 22-year-old curling an effort narrowly off target from the edge of the box before firing straight at Gazzaniga from a tight angle after twisting and turning to find room for the shot.
Rodgers' side did not let their heads drop after falling behind, with Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy both going close to equalising before Pereira's strike midway through the second half.
Just as the game appeared destined to end in a draw, Maddison collected Hamza Choudhury's pass before firing low into the bottom corner from a central position - all in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate.
The result was no less than Maddison and his team-mates deserve and lifts the Foxes - temporarily at least - to second in the Premier League.
Man of the match - James Maddison (Leicester)
VAR takes centre stage - the stats
- There were two goals disallowed by VAR in this match, while no other game in the Premier League in 2019-20 has had more than one chalked off.
- Tottenham have failed to win three consecutive away Premier League games when they were leading at half-time for the first time since March 2008.
- Leicester have suffered just one defeat in their last nine Premier League home games (W6 D2), after losing four in a row directly before that.
- Tottenham are without a win in their last nine away games in the Premier League (W0 D2 L7) - they last had a longer winless away run between April and December 2006 (10).
- Leicester's Ricardo Pereira scored his third goal in 41 Premier League appearances - all three have come at the King Power Stadium.
- Tottenham striker Harry Kane has scored 14 goals in 13 games in all competitions against Leicester, four more than he has versus any other side in his professional career.
- Since the start of last season, Kane has scored 13 Premier League away goals, more than any other player in this period.
- Leicester's James Maddison ended a run of 31 shots in the Premier League without a goal, since netting versus Huddersfield in April.
- Spurs' Son Heung-min has been directly involved in seven goals in his last six Premier League appearances versus Leicester (4 goals, 3 assists).
'A wonderful performance' - what the managers said
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers on BBC Sport: "It was a wonderful performance. I thought the players were outstanding. We started the game with a great tempo, which sets the emotion in the stadium.
"It was just a case of preparing the players mentally for the second half. We had to adapt the system at half-time. The players deserve huge credit. The quality we showed was top-class against an outstanding team."
"Some of the offside decisions - it's fine margins. Whatever the decision, you have to adapt and keep your focus on the game. The players did that very well."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino on BBC Sport: "We dominated the game and we deserved more but that's football. It can change quickly. We need to keep working. We have a lot of games coming and we need to be ready.
"I'm always saying that sometimes it (VAR) benefits you and sometimes it goes against you. You can't complain afterwards. You have to accept it.
"Today, we were the better side but I hope they (Leicester) have a very good season. I admire Brendan Rodgers and wish them the best."
What's next?
Leicester travel to Luton Town in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, 25 September (19:45 BST), while Spurs visit Colchester United at the same time.
Line-ups
Leicester
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1Schmeichel
- 21Ricardo Pereira
- 6Evans
- 4Söyüncü
- 3Chilwell
- 25Ndidi
- 17PérezSubstituted forPraetat 67'minutes
- 8TielemansSubstituted forChoudhuryat 84'minutes
- 10Maddison
- 15BarnesSubstituted forGrayat 82'minutesBooked at 83mins
- 9Vardy
Substitutes
- 2Justin
- 5Morgan
- 7Gray
- 11Albrighton
- 12Ward
- 20Choudhury
- 26Praet
Tottenham
Formation 4-1-2-1-2
- 22Gazzaniga
- 24Aurier
- 4Alderweireld
- 5Vertonghen
- 3Rose
- 8Winks
- 17SissokoBooked at 19minsSubstituted forWanyamaat 67'minutesBooked at 71mins
- 28NdombeleSubstituted forLucas Mouraat 86'minutes
- 11LamelaSubstituted forEriksenat 79'minutes
- 7Son Heung-min
- 10Kane
Substitutes
- 12Wanyama
- 15Dier
- 23Eriksen
- 27Lucas Moura
- 29Skipp
- 33Davies
- 41Whiteman
- Referee:
- Paul Tierney
- Attendance:
- 32,129
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home44%
- Away56%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home7
- Away4
- Corners
- Home8
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home16
- Away13
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Leicester City 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1.
Post update
Offside, Tottenham Hotspur. Paulo Gazzaniga tries a through ball, but Lucas Moura is caught offside.
Post update
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Çaglar Söyüncü.
Post update
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City).
Substitution
Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Lucas Moura replaces Tanguy Ndombele.
Goal!
Goal! Leicester City 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1. James Maddison (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Hamza Choudhury.
Post update
Foul by Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur).
Post update
Ricardo Pereira (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Leicester City. Hamza Choudhury replaces Youri Tielemans.
Post update
Foul by Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur).
Post update
James Maddison (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Victor Wanyama (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by James Maddison (Leicester City).
Booking
Demarai Gray (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Demarai Gray (Leicester City).
Post update
Attempt saved. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
Substitution
Substitution, Leicester City. Demarai Gray replaces Harvey Barnes.
Comments
Join the conversation
"Tottenham Hotspur it's happened again"
Brilliant!
Some of the greatest fans in the World!
Well done Leicester!
They are regressing. Ever since the sale of Moussa Dembele they have gone backwards.
Top quality sides can have an off day but Tottenham's are far too frequent.
SInce the start of the second half of last season their premiership points total is representative of a team fighting off relegation.
Tottenham are just not good enough to win anything.
What goes around, comes around.......
Spurs aren't in top 4 now but at least they owe £600m+, haven't won a trophy in a decade and Levy & Lewis have banked a lot of their fans money
We've won the Premierleague title (Home)
VS
BOTTLERS Hotspurs (Away)
Coming from 1 goal down to win it is a fantastic performance against the bottlers.
Congratulations to Leicester City and Brendan Rodgers for rising to 2nd in the league.
(Ps. VAR was correct, not ideal obviously)
#bottled it
Tottenham, a new Bottling record:
Leading 2-0 and losing 2-1 !!
COYB!
Thank you and well done.
Love,
Everyone