Leicester City vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Tottenham Hotspur defeated Leicester City 2-1 thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen.
The road win over the last-placed side in the league helped Spurs gain ground on West Ham in the race for fifth. They currently sit in seventh with 30 points from 18 matches.
Despite coming away with three points, Mauricio Pochettino's side were outplayed by the Premier League bottom feeders for long stretches.
Here's a look at the winners and the losers from Tottenham's Boxing Day victory.
Winner: Christian Eriksen
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With all of the momentum in Leicester City's favor, Eriksen unleashed a terrific free-kick in the 71st minute to win the match for the visitors.
Eriksen took advantage of poor positioning by Leicester City 'keeper Ben Hamer and perfectly placed the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net.
The goal came on the Danish midfielder's first shot on target in a match that Spurs were outshot by the hosts 22-8.
Not only did the goal hand Tottenham a victory on Friday, it also handed them a crucial bit of momentum heading into a two-game stretch against Manchester United and Chelsea.
Loser: Leicester City's Penalty Shouts
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On two occasions in the final 10 minutes of the match, Leicester City had two legitimate penalty claims.
In the 84th minute, Jamie Vardy sprinted down the left edge of the penalty area before Jan Vertonghen slid in to make a tackle.
The Belgian defender did catch the ball at first with his slide, but his follow through clipped the left foot of the Leicester City substitute.
Two minutes later, Leonardo Ulloa was tugged down by Vertonghen in the middle of the box, but referee Neil Swarbrick did not make a decision in the hosts' favor.
The two decisions added insult to injury for a Leicester City side who did not catch any breaks Friday afternoon.
Winner: Riyad Mahrez
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The best player on the pitch at the King Power Stadium was Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez.
The Algerian set up the first goal scored by the hosts, as he sprinted down the right wing to feed Ulloa with a pass in the 48th minute.
Just a few minutes later, Mahrez hit the top-left corner of the crossbar with a stellar free-kick, which on another day may have flown into the back of the net.
Throughout the entire second half, Mahrez tried to spark countless moves forward by the Foxes.
Without his efforts, Leicester City would not have stood a chance against their opponents from north London.
Loser: Wes Morgan
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Leicester City defender Wes Morgan had two chances to score an equalizer during the final few minutes of the match, but he failed to capitalize on either shot.
Morgan agonizingly fell short in the 89th minute, when he failed to get a piece of the ball with a wide-open net in front of him.
The centre-back was denied a solid chance on goal by Tottenham 'keeper Hugo Lloris, who got a hand to the cross sent in by Mahrez.
Morgan also had another chance to level the score at 2-2 in stoppage time, but his header was once again tapped away by Lloris.
Despite his missed chances in attack, the Jamaican had a decent day in defense with seven clearances. While that is a fine number to put up against Spurs, he still failed to beat Lloris in two critical moments of the match.
Winner: Hugo Lloris
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With Leicester City running rampant in attack for the first 25 minutes of the second half, Lloris had to come up with a few crucial saves.
His best effort of the match came in the 66th minute, when he dove to his left to deny Jeffrey Schlupp of a go-ahead goal.
Lloris made a total of five saves against a last-placed side, who cannot find any good fortunes at the moment.
By keeping his side in the match, Lloris allowed his team-mates a chance of finding one attacking move to unlock the Leicester City defense.
That moment came in the 71st minute, when Eriksen ripped his game-winning free-kick past Hamer.
Winner: Harry Kane
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Kane continued his strong form with a goal in the first minute for Tottenham.
Kane scored his fourth goal in four games in all competitions, as he connected with a pass from Nacer Chadli that was sent in from the left wing.
The 21-year-old was close to adding an assist to the scoresheet in the 32nd minute, when he sprung Nabil Bentaleb forward with a terrific pass from the middle of the pitch.
Although that specific move did not end in a goal, Kane showed with the pass that he is flowing with confidence at the moment.
With two major matches coming up to finish off the holiday fixture list, Kane needs to extend his fine form into those games for Spurs to have a chance of keeping up with the top clubs.
Stats via WhoScored.com unless otherwise noted.
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