Brighton 1-1 Leicester: Vardy penalty rescues a point for 10-man Leicester
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Jamie Vardy fires home from the penalty spot to earn Leicester a draw at Brighton
Jamie Vardy scored his first goal since September to earn 10-man Leicester a draw against Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
Vardy sent Mat Ryan the wrong way from the penalty spot after Beram Kayal had brought down Kelechi Iheanacho inside the area.
Glenn Murray had given Brighton the lead on his 100th Premier League appearance, heading Anthony Knockaert's corner into the net after 15 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse for Leicester before the half-hour mark when James Maddison was shown a second yellow card - barely a minute after his first caution - for going down too easily under the challenge of Shane Duffy.
The visitors improved after Vardy's second-half introduction, however, and got their just rewards when the 31-year-old fired past Ryan for his fourth goal of the campaign in all competitions.
The win keeps 10th-placed Leicester three points clear of Brighton, who remain in 12th.
Vardy the game-changer
Leicester manager Claude Puel said on Thursday that it was time to "focus on football" as the club tries to move on from the death of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in a helicopter crash four weeks ago.
The visitors were comfortably second best in the first 45 minutes, their first shot on target coming from Shinji Okazaki in first-half stoppage time.
After falling behind through Murray's header, the Foxes' hopes of getting something from the game were dealt a major blow when Maddison was given his marching orders for a dive, which is unlikely to please his boss.
But it was Vardy, who replaced Demarai Gray 11 minutes into the second half, who sparked City's revival.
The striker very nearly set up Okazaki within minutes of entering the fray, but the Japanese forward failed to get a touch on Vardy's cross.
Vardy has been unable to train recently due to a groin injury, but his emphatic penalty - his first goal since scoring from the spot in a 2-0 win at Newcastle in September - earned Leicester an unlikely point.
Murray goal not enough
Murray had not scored in seven appearances against Leicester prior to Saturday's encounter - the longest he had gone without a goal against any opponent in English football.
The veteran forward broke his duck against the Foxes with a trademark header past Kasper Schmeichel - his 101st goal for the club.
The 35-year-old very nearly doubled his personal tally before the interval, but failed to get a touch on Jose Izquierdo's low cross following neat build-up play by Davy Propper.
Brighton were in complete control of proceedings prior to Vardy's second-half introduction, but only managed three attempts on target over the course of the 90 minutes - and only one after Maddison's red card.
Izquierdo was particularly wasteful, shooting wide from a tight angle when Murray and Knockaert were well positioned inside the box, before sending another speculative effort off target.
Victory for Brighton would have equalled their own top-flight record of three consecutive home victories, which they achieved most recently in March, but Chris Hughton's team had to make do with a share of the spoils.
Man of the match - Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
Vardy was a constant thorn in Brighton's side after coming on in the second half, stretching the Brighton defence with his direct running before ending a run of 468 league minutes without a goal with his late penalty.
What they said - 'We played like 11 men'
Brighton needed second goal - Hughton
Brighton manager Chris Hughton: "I'm hugely disappointed. We were in a similar position against Cardiff and you know when you play against a team with 10 men, they're going to play a certain way.
"It's a poor penalty that we conceded and it's a really good opportunity missed. You've got to be able to kill the game off, but we weren't able to do that."
On James Maddison's red card: "I haven't seen the sending off again. The only thing I did see was that there wasn't a great reaction to it, which says to me that it was the right decision."
Puel praises Leicester's 'fighting spirit'
Leicester manager Claude Puel: "We came back in the second half with desire and energy to play forward. We played like 11 men and I think we deserved the win.
"Jamie gave us this feeling to believe in ourselves. It was important to protect him in the first half because he was injured for two weeks, but I wanted to bring him on in the second half."
On Maddison's dismissal: "I need to see it again, but of course it was tough for us to see his sending off. We had a fantastic reaction to play with 10 men and this performance is like a win. It's one point but it's good."
Match stats - Leicester's red mist descends again
Brighton have lost just one of their last nine home Premier League games (W4, D4).
Since the start of last season, Leicester have both scored and conceded in a league-high 33 Premier League games.
At 35 years and 60 days, Glenn Murray is the ninth oldest outfield player to reach 100 Premier League appearances.
No English player has scored more goals in Europe's big five leagues this season than Murray (7).
Brighton defensive duo Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy both made their 50th Premier League appearances in this game, with only goalkeeper Mat Ryan (51) playing more often for the club in the competition.
Leicester have picked up four red cards in the Premier League this season, twice as many as any other side.
Vardy has scored 12 penalties since his Premier League debut in August 2014, a figure only Sergio Aguero (17) and Harry Kane (16) can better in that period.
What's next?
Brighton travel to Huddersfield Town in the Premier League on Saturday, 1 December (kick-off 15:00 GMT), while Leicester take on Southampton in the rearranged EFL Cup fixture on Tuesday, 27 November (kick-off 19:45 GMT).