Aston Villa 1-2 Leicester City: Leicester move to second place

Emiliano Martinez (GK) – 5/10 – Little he could do for the first goal but he dropped a clanger for the second, spilling it straight to Barnes.

Ahmed Elmohamady (RB) – 5/10 – The drop-off in quality compared to Matty Cash was noticeable. He was torn to shreds by Barnes and fluffed a clearance in the buildup to Leicester’s second.

Ezri Konsa (CB) – 6/10 – Looked pretty hapless in the first half with Maddison’s movement causing all sorts of problems. He improved thereafter, finishing the game with three blocks.

Tyrone Mings (CB) – 5/10 – Far from convincing. He was slow to get out and block Maddison’s shot and Vardy’s pressing gave him a few nervy moments.

Matt Targett (LB) – 6/10 – Provided a delicious cross for Villa’s goal. Other than that, his delivery was pretty average.

Leicester are determined not to make the same mistakes of last season when they let a huge lead over Manchester United and Chelsea slip away and missed out on Champions League football on the final day of the campaign.

The Foxes now enjoy a six-point cushion over Chelsea in fifth thanks to a flying start against a Villa side who badly missed injured captain Jack Grealish.

James Maddison could be the beneficiary if Grealish’s leg injury forces him to miss England’s World Cup qualifiers next month and he continued his fine scoring form with a low drive that clipped the inside of the post.

Leicester were 2-0 up inside 23 minutes as Harvey Barnes then pounced after Emiliano Martinez saved from Jamie Vardy.

Villa were handed a lifeline three minutes into the second half when Bertrand Traore swept home Matt Targett’s cross, but lacked the creative spark for which they rely on Grealish to find an equaliser.

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