Super sub Julian Joachim rescued a point for Aston Villa with a late goal in
the Midlands derby with his former club Leicester at Villa Park.
Former Villa midfielder Garry Parker looked to have settled the issue when he
converted a penalty eight minutes into the second period.
But Joachim, bought for £1.5million from Leicester two years ago, came up
trumps in the 86th minute with his fourth goal of the campaign - and all of them
have come when he was a substitute.
It was no more than Villa had deserved in the sense that they had called the
tune possession-wise throughout with Simon Grayson effective in midfield against
his former team-mates.
But Leicester defended in depth, with wing-backs Rob Savage and Steve Guppy
employed in withdrawn roles and as a result Villa found it hard to break down
Martin O'Neill's side.
They showed buckets of the resolution and commitment that have become their
trademark but Villa were sadly lacking in imagination in the centre of the
park.
The return of Dwight Yorke - in the withdrawn role in which he is now employed
- after injury cannot come quickly enough on the evidence of this display.
Leicester were content to rely on looking for the occasional breaks via the
pace of Emile Heskey and their approach did not make for a great spectacle - but
this was a vital point for the Foxes.
After their early season sparkle they have gone off the boil in recent months
and this result was only their third point from the last six Premiership matches
as they maintained their place in the top half of the table.
Villa dominated the first half territorially but there was precious little to
enthuse about in terms of excitement during the opening period.
Leicester 'keeper Kasey Keller comfortably dealt with a 25-yard effort from
Fernando Nelson and a freekick from the edge of the area by Stan Collymore.
But the first genuine opportunity did not arrive until the 21st minute when a
left-wing cross from Ian Taylor picked out Stan Collymore at the near post.
Villa's £7million record signing killed the ball stone dead and turned sharply
but he was denied by Keller, who saved his low shot at the foot of the post.
Ian Taylor thought he had given Villa the lead in the 25th minute when he
netted from close range but the effort was ruled out for pushing by Ugo Ehiogu
on Keller.
Leicester then enjoyed their best spell of the half and Alan Wright did well
to take the ball off Emile Heskey after he had been released in space by a long
ball from Muzzy Izzet.
Heskey then stopped low to send a header just wide after Ian Marshall had
flicked on a throw from Garry Parker - but that was the total sum of the first
half fare.
The second half started in similar fashion but then Leicester stunned the home
fans by taking a 53rd minute lead.
Leicester skipper Steve Walsh started the move when he robbed Milosevic on the
half-way line and the ball was then worked out to right wing-back Rob Savage.
The Welsh international played a low ball into Izzet, who was then hacked down
by Riccardo Scimeca and left referee Michael Riley with no choice but to point
to the penalty spot.
Parker, who had scored from the spot against Northampton in the FA Cup last
weekend, again made no mistake from 12 yards.
Villa retaliated and Grayson had the chance to equalise when he raced onto a
pass from Taylor but he drilled his shot wide.
Villa manager Brian Little made a tactical switch in the 63rd minute when he
switched Grayson to right-back and pushed Steve Staunton into midfield after
replacing Nelson with Gary Charles.
Teams:
Aston Villa: Bosnich, Nelson (Joachim 63), Staunton, Wright, Ehiogu, Scimeca, Taylor, Draper, Grayson, Milosevic, Collymore.
Subs Not Used: Hendrie, Charles, Hughes, Oakes.
Booked: Nelson, Milosevic.
Goals: Joachim 87.
Leicester: Keller, Savage, Guppy, Kaamark, Walsh, Izzet, Lennon,
Elliott, Marshall (Cottee 73), Parker, Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Prior, Fenton, Wilson, Arphexad.
Booked: Guppy.
Goals: Parker 53 pen.
Att: 36,429
Ref: M A Riley (Leeds).
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