Leicester City 0-0 Bournemouth

Riyad Mahrez could not score his 14th league goal of the season

Riyad Mahrez saw a second-half penalty saved as Leicester could only draw with Bournemouth to fall two points behind Arsenal at the top of the table.

Moments after Bournemouth captain Simon Francis was sent off for denying Jamie Vardy a goalscoring chance, Artur Boruc denied Mahrez with a two-handed save.

Vardy had struck a post when well-placed in an even first half, but the red card left the Cherries hanging on.

Boruc again denied Mahrez late on, but the visitors deservedly earned a point.

Leicester agree deal for winger Gray

Relive Leicester's meeting with Bournemouth

Vardy blank, Leicester blank (again)

Leicester had two shots (left) - including their penalty - on target, with 12 off target and two blocked

Though the stats said Leicester led 16 shots to nine, the home side failed to make their one-man advantage count. A paltry two attempts on target underlines the fact many of their efforts came from long distance or were half-chances.

With more than half an hour to go when Francis was dismissed, Claudio Ranieri's side had a golden chance to stay level on points with Arsenal; instead they now have just two points from three games, in which they have managed one goal.

Questions will be asked. Is this the start of a decline expected by many?

Vardy, though full of running as ever, should have scored when he struck the woodwork from eight yards. He drew a fine save from Boruc shortly before the penalty with a strike from 20 yards but has now gone four games without a goal.

Simon Francis's sending-off left Bournemouth with 10 men for the last half hour

On the plus side, Leicester now have the 40 points Ranieri targeted to ensure Premier League survival and the Italian said it would be "Champagne for my players" after the stalemate.

He could also be celebrating a new signing, with Birmingham winger Demarai Gray reportedly having a medical at the King Power Stadium.

But will the acquisition of Gray - who may in any case be loaned back to Birmingham for the season - be enough to propel the Foxes out of their first sticky patch of the campaign? Vardy and Mahrez need someone to share the burden as, in truth, when they could not deliver, no-one else looked like doing so.

Early style becomes dogged grit

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe confronted referee Andre Marriner on the pitch after the game in what appeared to be a protest against the sending-off of Francis.

Steve Cook made an impressive 15 clearances at the heart of Bournemouth's back four

It looked an incredibly close call, with the central defender appearing to get a slight touch on the ball as he made contact with Vardy right on the edge of the area.

The Cherries side of eight weeks ago may have gone under when faced with the territorial pressure that followed, but Howe's side have now lost just one match in eight.

They have run further than their opponents in every fixture this season and did so again at the King Power Stadium, though it would be unfair to brand this a backs-to-the-wall display as they looked threatening in the first half.

Dan Gosling fizzed a shot over the bar after good work by Joshua King, but when the south coast side did have to dig in, the likes of Steve Cook excelled. The centre-back made 15 clearances in all, eight more than anyone else on the field.

Man of the match - Artur Boruc

Behind his superb defence, Artur Boruc made the game's telling save and dealt with a number of crosses

Manager reaction

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: "We knew it was a difficult match and we started playing too late. Bournemouth moved the ball very quickly but in the second half we were much better.

"We hit the post, we missed a penalty and had some good chances. We have not scored for three games but we have had chances. Sometimes everything is right but now some things are wrong. The performance was good, a fantastic effort."

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe on Simon Francis' red card: "I didn't think it was a foul from my angle - he definitely touched the ball. It was a great recovery tackle. It's not a foul, a penalty or a sending-off.

"It was a very even game before that point, a high-tempo game and very high quality. We had some great chances in the first half but when we went down to 10 men we showed character and it's a great point for us. We won't appeal the red card as it's a one-game ban and the FA Cup is coming up."

Boruc went the right way for the penalty and Mahrez struck it at a nice height for the goalkeeper

The stats you need to know

• Jamie Vardy has won seven Premier League penalties since the start of 2014-15, two more than any other player in this period

• After a run of scoring in 18 successive Premier League matches from May-December 2015, Leicester City have now failed to score in each of their past three

• Bournemouth did not attempt a single shot on target in this match - the 11th occasion that a side have failed to attempt one in a Premier League game this season and the first time Bournemouth have failed to do so

Up next

Bournemouth entertain Championship side Birmingham City as FA Cup duties take over next Saturday, while Leicester brace themselves for a trip to Tottenham in the third round a day later.