Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman were left disappointed by VAR's offside decisions as Leicester City lost 2-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion in Sunday’s Premier League encounter.
The duo thought they had scored for City but their potential goals ultimately didn't count. The Seagulls have climbed to third in the English elite division log having claimed their first Premier League win over Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Heading into the fixture, Leicester had settled for a 2-2 draw against Napoli in Thursday’s Europa League encounter. Even at that, they were aiming for a positive result having silenced Norwich City 2-1 in their last away encounter.
Both teams put up a good fight from the very blast of referee Stuart Attwell’s whistle. However, it was the hosts who took the lead in the 35th minute through Neal Maupay.
With the referee adjudging Jannik Vestergaard to have handled Shane Duffy’s goal-bound header, Maupay was presented with a golden chance from 12-yards to fire Brighton into the lead, which he duly converted by sending goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in the wrong direction.
Rodgers’ side put up an impressive attacking display, yet they were unable to level matters – heading into the half-time break with a goal deficit.
Five minutes into the second half, Brighton doubled their advantage as Danny Welbeck rose highest to flick home Leandro Trossard’s pacey cross.
However, the Foxes reduced their deficit a minute after the hour mark as Jamie Vardy turned in an assist from Youri Tielemans.
That goal fuelled the attacking intent of the King Power Stadium giants as they swamped Brighton’s backline in numbers.
In the 67th minute, Lookman thought he had leveled matters from Ryan Bertrand’s corner kick, but VAR ruled that out as Harvey Barnes – who was in an offside position - was adjudged to have blocked the sight of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Even at that, Leicester remained resolute. Five minutes before full-time, Ndidi’s header from a corner was disallowed for offside against Barnes again.
Ndidi was in action from start to finish, whereas, Zambia international Patson Daka was an unused substitute while Kelechi Iheanacho was introduced for Boubakary Soumare in the 75th minute.
The reigning English FA Cup kings are guests of Millwall in Wednesday’s League Cup encounter.