Leicester City 2-1 Crystal Palace: Foxes fight back to close in on Champions League football

Leicester City fought back to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in the Premier League thanks to a stunning late winner by Kelechi Iheanacho.

With West Ham losing and Liverpool drawing, Leicester had a great chance to cement themselves in next season’s Champions League, and thanks to a wondrous goal from Iheanacho they did, edging past a gritty and enterprising Palace.

They now have a seven-point cushion separating them from fifth place, and it would take a monumental collapse for them to mess things up from here.

Palace took the lead on 12 minutes with a fine goal with Cheikhou Kouyate dispossessing Youri Tielemans before sending Eberechi Eze goalwards, his pass playing in Wilfried Zaha who timed his run to perfection before opening his body to beat Kasper Schmeichel.

But Leicester came out quickly for the second half and levelled the match on 50 minutes, and Timothy Castagne’s emphatic finish came after good work by Tielemans and Iheanacho.

Palace missed chances to retake the lead before Iheanacho controlled beautifully before annihilating a shot high past Vicente Guaita at his near post.

Palace made them work hard for it, but Leicester are nearly there.

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) A brilliant assist, a brilliant goal and a very fine performance. He was always a finisher, now he's a centre-forward.

The ability to play in different styles and formations is a handy thing to have, so Leicester’s ability so to do is to their credit. But the majority of proper teams deploy a method which they stick to and which defines them; Leicester are still searching.

The form of Kelechi Iheanacho and vigour of Jamie Vardy means Brendan Rodgers is obliged to field two strikers, except the 3-5-2 formation he currently favours means they struggle for service and the team struggles for width. When Harvey Barnes returns, some difficult choices will need making, but in the meantime, with Champions League qualification almost secure, he needs to find a way of beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

It might be that Leicester's current approach is a decent fit for that particular challenge, forcing Chelsea to go wide while trying to examine a defence that isn't as good as its defensive record suggests. But against Palace, Leicester improved when Marc Albrighton – a winger, not a full-back – came on. He might not be a viable option against a better opponent, but at the moment the balance isn’t quite right - and it will need to be.

Leicester City: Schmeichel 6, Fofana 5, Evans 7, Soyuncu 6, Castagne 7, Ndidi 6, Tielemans 6, Maddison 5, Thomas 5, Iheanacho 9, Vardy 6. Subs: Albrighton 7, Perez 6.

Crystal Palace: Guaita 6, Ward 6, Kouyate 6, Dann 6, Van Aanholt 6, Ayew 6, Milivojevic 6, Riedewald 6, Eze 7, Zaha 7, Benteke 6. Subs: townsend 6, McCarthy 6, Schlupp 6.

12’ - GOAL! Leicester City 0-1 Crystal Palace (Zaha) Leicester have been Leicestered! This is a lovely goal, Tielemans caught playing footsie on halfway by Kouyate's stern challenge, Eze picking up the loose ball and gliding goalwards before slipping Zaha in; he draws the keeper, opens his body and passes into the far corner. That's a lovely finish and his fourth goal in a row at the KP; Fofana, who we've been lauding, was the man playing him onside, though pass and run were perfectly timed.

50’ - GOAL! Leicester City 1-1 Crystal Palace (Castagne) This is an excellent goal, Tielemans drifting wide and curving a ball over the top and into space for Iheanacho. Kouyate reads it, but Iheanacho is too strong, leaping to control then turning, back to goal, to feed into the path of Castange who punches a superb finish into the far top corner.

55’ - BUT HAVE A LOOK! Thomas steps up late and Milivojevic sticks a ball in behind for Riedewald! He's in! But as Schmeichel comes out, he opts to square for Bneteke to tap in only to underhit it, and Evans slides in to make a brilliant goal-saving tackle. But it shouldn't have been an option.

64’ - Vardy pulls left and cuts sharply inside, bursting between Ward and Kouyate before hammering a shot towards the near post which Guaita saves, just about - right next to him was Van Aanholt, looking to boot it, and him, into next month.

69’ - And it's Eze on the corner, which he sticks on Benteke's head only for the striker to plop into Schmeichel's arms.

80’ - WHAT A GOAL! Leicester City 2-1 Crystal Palace (Iheanacho) Iheanacho really looks a player now! He collects Tielemans' pass over the top, catching it on his toes so deftly and gently before stepping inside Dann to thrash a sensational riser high past Guaita at his near post. But let me be clear, there was nothing whatsoever that the keeper could do about that, which makes it 14 in 14 for Iheanacho.