Bailey seals win for Villa over Leicester

Leon Bailey scored the winner in Aston Villa's 2-1 Premier League victory over Leicester City, after Stephy Mavididi's equaliser had cancelled out Ross Barkley's strike in an action-packed second half on Saturday.

Leicester, who contained Villa's attack effectively in the first half, fell to their fifth loss in a row, while eighth-placed Villa got their first win in three matches to move within three points of the top five.

Villa found the breakthrough in the 58th minute when an attempt to keep out Youri Tielemans' shot from the left reached Barkley, who hammered home from outside the box.

But the visitors struck back five minutes later when Emiliano Martinez's save to deny Jamie Vardy fell to Mavididi who made no mistake from close range.

Bailey secured the three points for the hosts with a neat finish from Ian Maatsen's short pass in the 76th minute.

Villa almost led in the 14th minute when Matty Cash's cross from the right found Ollie Watkins in the box but Conor Coady's swift deflection cleared it for a corner.

Villa lost John McGinn to an injury five minutes later as Leicester sat back in their own half to defend while the frustrated hosts dominated possession but struggled to create chances.

Villa's first shot on target came in added time before the break, as Cash's effort from outside the box was kept out by a diving Jakub Stolarczyk.

Leicester failure to keep a clean sheet for the 13th league game in a row maintained their record of having the league's joint most porous defence, after conceding 44 goals in 20 matches, the same as bottom side Southampton.

Leicester, 19th with 14 points, host Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, while Villa, who have 32 points, meet West Ham United on Friday.