After Jordan Ayew’s controversial first-half penalty at the King Power Stadium, Middlesbrough secured a 1-1 draw with Leicester through Luke Ayling’s header in the dying minutes of stoppage time.
The final whistle was met with jubilation from the away side, but Leicester were booed for the second consecutive home game.
Middlesbrough had the upper hand in possession in the early stages, but the first chance belonged to Leicester, with Abdul Fatau heading his shot from the back post just wide.
Caleb Okoli had a great chance to put City ahead in the 19th minute when he slipped behind the Boro defense from Luke Thomas’ free-kick, but he couldn’t get his shot on goal.
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Middlesbrough captain Luke Ayling leveled the score with the tip of a cross in the dying seconds of the game.
Home goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk, who needed treatment early in the game, struggled to make saves, but the visitors responded with a shot from Matt Targett.
Another free-kick from Thomas almost brought the visitors down, but Julian Carranza couldn’t hit the target on the turn.
However, referee Adam Hercek awarded a controversial penalty in first-half stoppage time, with Fortune favoring Leicester.
Fatau charged at Aidan Morris’ clearance and the ball bounced to Hayden Hackney on the edge of the area.
The midfielder stuck his arm out and there was indeed contact, but Boro claimed it happened outside the box. Ayew made a mistake from the spot to give City the lead.
Stolarczyk did not return in the second half and was replaced by Asmir Begovic, making his first Leicester appearance since joining in the summer.
Morgan Whittaker curled over the goal as Middlesbrough looked to equalize, but Hackney also went wide shortly after.
Fatau had already been booked in the first half but avoided a second yellow for a challenge that hurt his target.
Middlesbrough felt they should have been awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute when Okoli pushed Tommy Conway, but this time Herczek was not interested.
Targett, Conway and Whittaker all missed the target as Middlesbrough looked for a late equaliser.
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Courtney Sweetman-Kirk discusses whether Leicester City should have been awarded a penalty after Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney was penalized for handball.
Conway conceded a goal in the 87th minute due to a mistake from Jannik Westergaard and missed out on a great chance to equalize with Begovic making a vital block.
Boro’s Alfie Jones was given a red in the 89th minute for cynically stopping substitute Steffy Mavididi’s clearance.
However, Ayling headed home six minutes into stoppage time, sparking wild celebrations in the away end.
Callum Britten delivered a cross to the far post and the centre-back beat Okoli in the air and headed it across goal.
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Leicester’s Marti Sifuentes:
“I want to praise the players. It’s a very cruel way to end the game. I’m like everyone else and I’m very frustrated. It’s very tough, but that’s football. We have to keep going.”
“In terms of attitude, character, passion and dedication, it was great, but unfortunately in the last minutes we should have done better.
“Football is a lot about emotion and maybe we could have done it differently, playing against 10 men in different situations, but I strongly believe that if we continue this way we can get a lot of points in this league.”
“I said to the players that not getting the three points is very tough, we need this kind of work ethic and dedication and it was very evident on the pitch. My frustration comes from it being so close. After tonight we will have more time to analyze.”
Rob Edwards of Middlesbrough:
“We showed the character, spirit, belief and quality that football requires. We all agree, but I don’t think it could have been more than what we got in this game.”
“But in the last situation where it looked doubtful, it almost felt like a win, even though it wasn’t a win, but I felt like we should have won.
“We kept going and found a way to get something out of it and our centre-half jumped out and made it happen.”
