Report | Leicester City 0 Swansea City 1
Swansea City recorded a first away win at Leicester City in nearly 76 years as Jisung Eom’s brilliant solo run teed up Zan Vipotnik for the second-half winner at the King Power Stadium.
The Slovenian struck the decisive blow early in the second half after Eom had picked off a telegraphed Leicester free-kick to surge nearly the length of the pitch, before teeing up Vipotnik to lash home a 23rd goal of the season.
Melker Widell had missed a great chance for the Swans just before that, while Gustavo Nunes was denied what looked a clear first-half penalty after being brought down in the area.
Vipotnik had made an excellent goal-line clearance in the first half, with Lawrence Vigouroux making two key saves as the Swans extended their unbeaten run to three matches.
Vitor Matos had brought Leo Walta, Nunes and Marko Stamenic into his starting line-up, with Goncalo Franco, Liam Cullen and Jay Fulton on the bench.
The hosts, in desperate need of three points in their battle to avoid the drop, forced a couple of early corners, and delivered a handful of crosses into the Swansea box, but the visitors dealt with those instances with the minimum of fuss.
Swansea soon began to take control of the game, pinning Leicester in their own half and probing for an opportunity as the frustrations of the home support quickly grew, with Sam Parker enjoying a couple of bright forward forays.
The Swans were then denied a clear penalty when Luke Thomas lunged in and brought down Nunes in the area, but referee Sam Allison ignored visiting appeals and awarded a goal-kick.
An excellent Ben Cabango pass then allowed Walta to surge forward and find Widell’s run into the area, but last-ditch defending denied the Sweden international the chance to got a shot away.
Divine Mukasa saw his shot across goal flick the post at the other end, while Patson Daka’s glancing header forced Vigouroux into a fine save as the ball threatened to loop over him.
A loose pass then gave Abdul Fatawu a chance but the forward planted his strike just wide of the post.
Swansea responded, Walta linking together a flowing attack that ended with Parker’s threatening cross running long the six-yard box with no white shirt on hand to turn home.
But the visitors needed Vipotnik to be alert and clear off the line after Oliver Skipp had volleyed a knockdown beyond Vigouroux in order to ensure they were level at the interval.
Swansea should have led less than five minutes into the second half. Nunes picked off a loose pass to find Vipotnik, and his pull-back was perfectly-placed for the arriving Widell, but he sent his effort over the bar.
But they did lead just a few minutes later with Eom the architect and Vipotnik the scorer.
It started with a Leicester free-kick on the left-hand side of the Swansea area, which the Foxes took short. Eom had read it and got onto the ball and set off upfield, with Nunes, Parker and Vipotnik doing their best to get up to him.
The South Korea international weaved his way to the right as he broke into the opposition half before laying off to the Slovenian striker, whose first touch took him into the area, and the second found the net via the underside of the bar.
Substitute Joel Ward made a terrific covering tackle as Leicester looked to play Stephy Mavididi into space on their left flank.
The hosts made a pair of attacking substitutions as Jordan Ayew and Bobby De Cordova-Reid came on with the hosts knowing they needed to throw caution to the wind.
Widell and Vipotnik came close to completing an exchange of passes that would have seen the striker in on goal.
Into the final 20 minutes and Leicester began to commit more and more numbers forward, but the Swans held firm.
There were six minutes of stoppage time to navigate but the Swans came through them without alarm to claim all three points.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Sam Parker (Joel Ward 56), Ben Cabango (captain), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon; Marko Stamenic, Melker Widell (Ronald 76), Leo Walta (Goncalo Franco 56); Gustavo Nunes, Jisung Eom (Liam Cullen 72), Zan Vipotnik (Adam Idah 72).
Unused Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Jay Fulton, Malick Yalcouye, Ollie Cooper.
Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, Abdul Fatawu, Harry Winks, Stephy Mavididi (Jordan Ayew 62), Patson Daka (Jeremy Monga 73), Ricardo Pereira (captain) (Hamza Choudhury 87), Oliver Skipp (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 62), Jannik Vestergaard, Jamaal Lascelles, Divine Mukasa (Jordan James 73), Luke Thomas.
Unused Substitutes: Asmir Begovic, Harry Souttar, Joe Aribo, Olabade Aluko.
Referee: Sam Allison
Attendance: