Controversial striker Pierre van Hooijdonk grabbed the headlines for all the
wrong reasons again when he saw sent off today as Forest crashed in a heated
east midlands derby at Filbert Street.
The Dutch striker turned in a true Jekyll and Hyde performance, scoring his
third goal of the season with a sublime first-time finish after 13 minutes in an
impressive first-half display at Leicester.
But that was all overshadowed by a late challenge on Steve Walsh that had
referee Mike Riley reaching instantly for a red card on 58 minutes.
By then the home side had overturned the early deficit with goals from Emile
Heskey and a penalty from Matt Elliott after Andy Johnson had been penalised for
handball.
With Forest down to 10 men, Leicester were able to cruise to their fifth home
win of the season, Steve Guppy giving them a two-goal cushion with 15 minutes
left with a superb curling, right-foot shot past Dave Beasant.
It left Forest without a win in 14 Premiership games and perhaps more
importantly deprived them of their best striker for three games in their
increasingly desperate battle to beat the drop.
Leicester had again been forced to field a makeshift side, with Elliott
employed as a stand-in centre-forward and Pontus Kaamark, recovered from an
Achilles injury, making his first appearance since September 19 in place of the
suspended Frank Sinclair.
The changes seemed to knock the Foxes out of their usually assured stride,
with Marlon Harewood and van Hooijdonk using their aerial power to good effect
as the visitors enjoyed the better of the early stages.
Steve Stone went close to heading in Scott Gemmill's through ball after three
minutes when Walsh misjudged the bounce before the England midfielder was booked
seconds later for a foul on Guppy.
Despite the visitors' promising start it was City who went closest to opening
the scoring, Elliott unlucky to see his 11th-minute header from Theo Zagorakis'
corner come back off the cross bar with Beasant well beaten.
Just two minutes later Forest were in front, however, as they capitalised on
some uncharacteristic slackness from the home defence.
Stone robbed Walsh of the ball around halfway and released Harewood, whose
cross was clinically despatched first time by van Hooijdonk from 12 yards out.
Leicester failed to heed the warning, however, and van Hooijdonk continued to
cause problems, forcing two good saves from Kasey Keller in quick succession.
City manager Martin O'Neill was already pacing frantically up and down the
touchline as he tried to organise his distinctly shaky side, and whatever he
screamed above the noise of the crowd appeared to have the desired effect as
they came back into the game.
The home fans thought they should have had a penalty just after the half-hour
for a possible handball by Stone of a Guppy cross - but the referee was not
impressed and waved play on.
City eventually equalised just before half-time, Guppy supplying a superb
cross for Heskey to lose his marker and brilliantly volley past Beasant into the
far corner.
That proved to be the turning point, and Leicester began the second half - no
doubt with some strong words from O'Neill still ringing in their ears - as they
had finished the first.
Elliott's cheeky, volleyed backheel was only a few yards wide, while Neil
Lennon had a couple of long-range efforts charged down.
A second goal looked inevitable and it duly arrived in controversial
circumstances after 54 minutes.
Guppy's corner was headed back across goal by Walsh, and the ball appeared to
strike the hand of Johnson as he tried to head clear.
The Forest players protested. But Mr Riley pointed to the spot, and Elliott
stepped up to thump the ball into the roof of the net.
That always looked likely to be good enough for Leicester, and Forest made
their task almost impossible after 58 minutes with van Hooijdonk's dismissal.
The Dutchman appeared to go in with his foot raised on Walsh after the ball
had gone, and the referee reached straight for his pocket to reduce Forest to 10
men.
Forest players again confronted the referee and officials surrounded the
linesman as Walsh received treatment, but van Hooijdonk had already made his way
down the tunnel.
To rub salt in the wounds, Leicester added a third with a quarter-of-an-hour
to go, Guppy cutting inside two defenders on the edge of the area before beating
Beasant with a curling effort into the bottom corner.
That was harsh on the visitors, who had threatened in the first half to give
Leicester a run for their money. They now face a long, hard winter to try and
avoid what is looking increasingly inevitable.
Teams
Leicester: Keller, Kaamark, Ullathorne, Elliott,
Walsh (Fenton 76), Izzet, Lennon, Zagorakis (Savage 69), Impey,
Heskey (Parker 86), Guppy.
Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Taggart.
Goals: Heskey 43, Elliott 55 pen, Guppy 75.
Nottm Forest: Beasant, Rogers, Chettle, Hjelde (Freedman 73),
Stone, Gemmill, Johnson, Bart-Williams, Mattsson,
Harewood (Shipperley 80), Van Hooijdonk.
Subs Not Used: Crossley, Armstrong, Gray.
Sent Off: Van Hooijdonk (58).
Booked: Stone, Harewood, Johnson, Mattsson.
Goals: Van Hooijdonk 14.
Att: 20,891
Ref: M Riley (Leeds).
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