Leicester City 1-3 Liverpool
- Published
Liverpool up to eighth after back-to-back league wins
Bottom club Leicester two points from safety
Leicester finish with 10 men after Morgan sent off
Steven Gerrard scored on his return to the Liverpool starting line-up as they came from behind to beat Leicester.
The Premier League's bottom club led when Leonardo Ulloa's shot hit a post and ricocheted into the net off the head of keeper Simon Mignolet.
But Adam Lallana scored on the half-volley, before Gerrard hit home from a poor Wes Morgan clearance.
Morgan was then sent off for a foul on Lambert before Jordan Henderson sealed a deserved Reds win.
Former Nottingham Forest defender Morgan can have few complaints after wrestling the Liverpool striker to the floor soon after gifting Gerrard his goal.
The Liverpool skipper, who is mulling over a new contract offer, had been left out of the starting line-up for Saturday's 1-0 home win over Stoke, raising speculation about his Anfield future.
But the 34-year-old looked refreshed and reinvigorated as he led his team to their first league away win since 19 October.
Liverpool side move up to eighth in the Premier League table, while Leicester remain bottom, two points from safety and without a win in nine top-flight games.
Steven Gerrard back to his best? | |
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Gerrard scored his first Premier League goal against Leicester City, in his seventh game against them | Only two of Gerrard's last 19 Premier League goals have come from open play |
No English footballer has scored more Premier League goals in 2014 than Gerrard | Against Leicester, Gerrard scored from open play, was at the heart of the third goal and had a penalty appeal turned down |
It started well for the Foxes thanks to Reds keeper Mignolet.
The Belgian's form has been a talking point during Liverpool's disjointed start to the season and he did little to silence his critics at a sell-out King Power Stadium.
The 26-year-old was fortunate to escape after a casual clearance landed at the feet of Esteban Cambiasso. Luckily for him, the Argentina midfielder fired wastefully wide 25 yards in front of an open net.
Yet Liverpool were behind two minutes later, Ulloa's shot from a tight angle hitting the post before deflecting in off the back of Mignolet's head after Jamie Vardy's initial shot had been cleared off the line by Martin Skrtel.
Fortunately for the Reds, Leicester's defence was equally as bad.
The visitors were level as Lallana dispatched a left-foot half-volley low past Kasper Schmeichel's left after Morgan, under pressure from Lambert, had inadvertently headed the ball into the former Southampton's player's path.
There was little to choose between the sides before Gerrard fired home after Morgan's poor clearance from Raheem Sterling's cross gifted the midfielder his first goal since 27 September.
Morgan was then shown a straight red card for wrestling Lambert to the floor.
Leicester went close to equalising when Cambiasso's goal-bound shot hit team-mate Vardy, before Gerrard had a penalty appeal turned down following a challenge from Schmeichel after being put clean through.
But Schmeichel's error sealed the points, Gerrard again at the heart of it all.
The former England international's low cross was deflected by the goalkeeper, Sterling latching onto the rebound and brilliantly back-heeling the ball into the path of Henderson to slot into an open goal.
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