08 May 2023 , 16:03
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Leicester fan Gary Lineker couldn't hide his dismay as the Foxes suffered a heavy defeat at Fulham to leave their hopes of Premier League safety in severe jeopardy.
The Foxes were 3-0 down by half-time on the banks of the Thames, with this defeat leaving them stuck on 30 points with three matches left to play.
Lineker took to Twitter shortly after Fulham scored again early in the second half to label the performance "embarrassing", and although the Foxes did at least show some fight to eventually lose the match 5-3, the defeat has left them firmly in the relegation mire.
Interim boss Dean Smith had made two changes for the trip to Fulham in the Premier League.
The former Aston Villa boss brought in Victor Kristiansen for Luke Thomas and Dennis Praet for Wilfred Ndidi as the Foxes looked to move three points clear of danger.
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Harrison Reed and Kenny Tete came back into Fulham’s starting line-up as Cedric Soares and Sasa Lukic dropped to the bench.
Fulham opened the scoring after 13 minutes through Willian. Antonee Robinson was fouled by Dennis Praet near the left touchline, and the Brazilian’s inswinging free-kick evaded everybody inside the box and dropped into the bottom corner.
Leicester are deep in relegation trouble (PA)Fulham doubled their lead after 20 minutes when Boubakary Soumare lost possession in his own half and Harry Wilson raced away with the ball. He fed it to Carlos Vinicius, who coolly rolled it in past Daniel Iversen for 2-0.
Fulham scored a third on the stroke of half-time. Harrison Reed showed good footwork to control the ball and feed Carlos Vinicius, who turned well and found Tom Cairney. The Fulham captain took a touch to come inside Soyuncu before bending his shot into the bottom corner.
Cairney fired home his second goal and his team’s fourth. He was set up by a fine marauding run and cross by Kenny Tete and finished low past Iversen.
Jamie Vardy saw his penalty saved at Craven Cottage (Getty Images)Harvey Barnes pulled a consolation goal back for Leicester, his neat finish bouncing in off the underside of the crossbar to bring the score to 4-1, before Foxes veteran Jamie Vardy had his penalty saved by Fulham stopper Bernd Leno.
Willian compounded Leicester’s humiliation by firing in Fulham’s fifth 20 minutes from the end, nobody in blue challenging the Brazilian as he drifted infield and rifled the ball past Iversen.
Leicester did at least strike twice in the final 10 minutes through a James Maddison penalty and another goal from Barnes, but the damage had long been done.