Leon Bailey scored a late winner as Aston Villa condemned Leicester to a fifth straight Premier League defeat.

The Jamaica forward made a late run into the box to tap home substitute Ian Maatsen's low cross in the 78th minute for his first goal of the season.

It had looked like Ruud van Nistelrooy's visitors would end their losing run after Stephy Mavididi equalised Villa's opener in the 64th minute, finishing a rebound after Emiliano Martinez's fine save from a close-range Jamie Vardy shot.

Unai Emery's Villa led after a sumptuous 58th-minute strike from Ross Barkley from the edge of the box for his third league goal of the campaign.

At 2-1, Bailey came within inches of wrapping up the points after his driving run ended in a strike that rebounded off the underside of the bar before Ollie Watkins smashed his rebound well over.

There was a blow for Villa as captain John McGinn limped off with a hamstring injury in the first half and Emery does not know how long he will be out.

"It is his hamstring. He could be out for two, three, four, five weeks, I don't know," Emery said.

In a first half lacking any excitement, Villa were possibly unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty after Boubacar Kamara went to ground in the box following a challenge from Mavididi.

The video assistant referee deemed it a fair challenge, despite there being obvious contact.

With the scores level, Villa looked short of ideas, with striker Jhon Duran suspended, leading Emery to look to his bench for inspiration.

The Spanish manager sent on Dutch wing-back Maatsen and it was his bursting run down the left that provided the key moment, as he sent in a pinpoint low cross for Bailey's winner.

Villa remain eighth in the table, just four points behind Chelsea in fourth while Leicester are second from bottom, two points from safety.

How do Villa follow up a year as successful as 2024, when they qualified for the Champions League for the first time? Well, three points in their first game of 2025 is a decent start.

At times, it looked like it might only be one point after a dismal first half but Emery's side produced when they needed it most to end a winless run of two games.

With fourth-placed Chelsea dropping points for a third game on the spin, Villa are only four points off a Champions League place.

It was far from Villa's best performance under Emery - and they clearly missed Pau Torres at the back, with the Spaniard out for two months with a broken foot.

They will need to perform better than this to take anything from their next match - an away trip to Everton.

Van Nistelrooy changed the set-up of his Leicester side after the amount of chances the Foxes conceded in his opening two games in charge.

However, the tactical switch has also nullified their attack and coincided with the five-match losing run.

Leicester's attacking press was nowhere to be seen in the first half and they managed just two shots on target in the game.

After beating West Ham 3-1 and drawing 2-2 with Brighton in Van Nistelrooy's first two matches, Saturday's goal was only the second Leicester have scored in five games.

In that time they have conceded 14 times.

In Leicester's only half chance of the first half, Bilal el Khannouss latched on to a loose Matty Cash header and fired a strike high into the Villa fans - summing up the Foxes attacking quality.

Van Nistelrooy is obviously searching for answers as he attempts to save his side from relegation but can Leicester earn enough points with so few attacking chances?