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Leicester City 1 Barnsley 2: Gray’s double rewards Tykes and leaves boss Hill delighted
Barnsley manager Keith Hill saluted his side’s fine performance – and believes they could have beaten Leicester by a bigger margin.
“It was a great win and a great performance. I thought the lads were excellent,” Hill said.
“We came up with a game plan and it worked, so job done.
“We probably could have won by more in the second half. You expect the home side Leicester, with the players that they have got, to expose themselves to the counter-attack which did leave opportunities for us.”
Only Lloyd Dyer and Kasper Schmeichel emerged with any credit from a dismal Leicester performance with the Danish goalkeeper producing a string of fine saves to restrict the Tykes.
Barnsley were in front after 10 minutes when Ricardo Vaz Te and Danny Drinkwater combined cleverly down the left to find the unmarked Gray, who slotted home from six yards.
Leicester levelled in the 15th minute when Dyer latched on to Matt Mills’s long ball forward and steered it beyond the advancing goalkeeper and into the bottom corner from 12 yards.
Barnsley recaptured the lead in the 34th minute when Gray rose unmarked to head home Drinkwater’s cross from the left.
A switch to 4-4-2 after the break lifted Leicester with Richie Wellens heading against the bar and Andy King blasting a good chance wide before Barnsley hit back with Schmeichel racing from his line to deny substitute Matt Done and then diving to his left to parry a shot from another substitute Craig Davies.
In the final minute Schmeichel prevented the Foxes suffering further embarrassment when he produced a fine save to deny Vaz Te after the Portuguese striker had strolled through a ragged Leicester rearguard.
Nigel Pearson, who left Hull to take over for a second time at Leicester, conceded he faces a major rebuilding job.
The Foxes’ manager said: “They were better than us and that maybe shows us where we are as a club. The expectations are high, of course, but our inability to beat them or create enough goalscoring opportunities was a real problem for us.
“The squad is not as big as people think it is. I hope to rectify that in this (transfer) window, if we can do business.
“The goals we conceded were poor, both on the counter-attack. They were avoidable and it was sloppy play from us. When your ‘keeper is your best player, that shows you where you are at.”
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Peltier, Tunchev, Mills, Konchesky, Wellens, Danns, King, Gallagher (Beckford 73), Nugent, Dyer. Unused substitutes: Weale, St Ledger, Abe, Kennedy.
Barnsley: Steele, Hassell, Foster, McNulty, McEveley, Addison (Davies 67), Vaz Te (Wiseman 90), Drinkwater, Perkins, Gray, Dagnall (Done 61). Unused substitutes: Preece, Edwards.
Referee: Dean Whitestone (Northants).
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