Leicester 1 – 0 Liverpool

Ademola Lookman came off the bench to consign Liverpool to a shock 1-0 defeat at Leicester after Mohamed Salah had a penalty saved.

It was a miserable night for Jurgen Klopp’s side as they failed to close the six-point gap to Premier League leaders Manchester City and their wastefulness was to blame.

Salah’s first-half penalty was saved by the brilliant Kasper Schmeichel but he did not test the goalkeeper from the rebound and nor did Sadio Mane when through after the break.

Lookman punished Liverpool with a fine goal just before the hour mark and Brendan Rodgers’ depleted side held on for a memorable win that moves them back up to ninth.

How Leicester upset the odds

There was a high tempo from the outset with Liverpool pushing and Leicester’s obvious counter-attacking threat more than enough to encourage the home support.

But the electric atmosphere looked set to be taken down a notch when Wilfred Ndidi, playing at centre-back, caught Salah inside the box and the Egyptian stood over the penalty.

Schmeichel was up to the challenge though, saving Salah’s tame penalty before the Premier League’s top scorer somehow contrived to head against the bar from the rebound.

Salah had scored 15 consecutive Premier League penalties before this miss – a record only bettered by Matt Le Tissier – but this one was too safe in terms of height and direction.

The home supporters cheered as loudly as if they had scored themselves but Liverpool continued to push, Schmeichel called into action again to keep out Jordan Henderson.

By the midway point of the first half, it felt like Leicester were at their absolute limit in trying to repel the constant Liverpool attacks with Diogo Jota looking a particular menace.

Salah seemed certain to have made amends for his failure from the spot but Schmeichel proved his nemesis once more – hooking the ball away, a better stop than the penalty.

It was a heroic effort from the Leicester skipper and proved a turning point in the game as James Maddison finally managed to get on the ball and make things happen for his team.

Some neat play from a throw-in helped set up Jamie Vardy for a chance on the angle before Ndidi’s tackle on Salah – roared on by the crowd – sparked another opening soon after.

It broke up the prolonged pressure from Liverpool, getting Leicester to the interval with their clean sheet intact and with the supporters still hoping for an unlikely victory.

Ten minutes into the second half, those hopes looked set to be dashed when Jota put Mane through one-on-one but the Liverpool forward inexplicably missed the target.

It proved costly when Lookman came off the bench, promptly exchanged passes with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and beat Alisson at his near post. The home crowd erupted.

Liverpool were rattled but soon redoubled their efforts as Leicester inevitably began to drop a little deeper and looked to protect their lead. Maddison went off with an injury.

But while Klopp threw more attacking players on, Leicester held firm with Liverpool struggling to build up any momentum as the clock continued to tick down.

In the final moments, they did ask questions, Jota and Joel Matip both headed wide, with Alisson even going up for a late corner, but Leicester held on for the points.

It was some revenge for their Carabao Cup elimination last week and a welcome boost after conceding six to Manchester City. Those contrasting results leave Liverpool six points back from City, who can extend that gap to nine points when they face Brentford on Wednesday.

What’s next?

Leicester are back in action at the King Power Stadium on New Year’s Day – this Saturday for those losing track of the days – when they host bottom club Norwich City.

Liverpool’s next game is the following day when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on title rivals Chelsea in what will be a huge Super Sunday game live on Sky Sports.