It has not always been the way in the past few months but it was hard to wipe the smile off the face of Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, the Leicester chairman, as Abdul Fatawu completed his hat-trick, capping the scoring in a rout of Southampton on a night that left an instant return to the Premier League seemingly all but a formality. After the heavy financial losses, the legal action against the English Football League after being placed under a transfer embargo, the angst among supporters and the surrender of what looked an unassailable lead at the summit – they were 17 points clear of no ..read more

Leicester earned a valuable home win over fellow promotion hopefuls West Brom to return to the top of the Championship. The relief inside the King Power stadium was palpable. You pick your hero: Hamza Choudhury, with his timely defensive interventions, or the goalscorers – Wilfred Ndidi, whose lung-busting runs helped see out the game for the home side, and Jamie Vardy, who looked to have made the contest safe until Jed Wallace set up a nervy finish. Enzo Maresca, whose side were coming off defeats by Millwall and Plymouth, said Leicester had “got today, what we had lost in the last two games ..read more

Longman scores Den winner, Southampton beat Coventry Sheffield Wednesday snatch draw, Huddersfield thrashed Leicester missed the chance to go four points clear at the top of the Championship after a 1-0 loss at Millwall. Ryan Longman’s brilliant top-corner finish was the difference for the Lions, who climbed into 17th. Leicester stayed one point clear at the summit after Leeds moved into second following a goalless draw against Sunderland. The substitute Milutin Osmajic bagged a quickfire hat-trick as Preston completed an incredible second-half comeback to beat relegation-threatened Huddersf ..read more

Stephy Mavididi’s late header returns Leicester to summit Leeds lose to Coventry – their first defeat in 16 league games The battle for automatic promotion from the Championship remains impossible to call as Leicester returned to the summit by beating Birmingham while Leeds and Ipswich both lost. Leicester sealed their victory in the 89th-minute with Stephy Mavididi’s header condemning relegation-threatened Birmingham to a 2-1 defeat. Gary Rowett’s men had appeared on course for a precious point after Jay Stansfield cancelled out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s opener, but just as Enzo Maresca’s sid ..read more

Pressure bears down on Leicester. Above them, Premier League ­officials wish to examine their finances for the 2022-23 season. Should they be ­promoted, a points deduction ­beckons. Should they remain in the Football League, then similar censure awaits. A rock and a hard place, limbo, a situation relying on an ­expensive legal team. Can their actual ­football team, not exactly short on ­expensive talent – that being part of the legal problem – be relied upon? The evidence grows to the contrary after defeat at Ashton Gate to Anis Mehmeti’s winning strike. Bristol City took advantage of a l ..read more

Leicester respond to action taken against them by leagues EFL imposes transfer embargo but club calls it ‘premature’ A defiant Leicester City have issued legal proceedings against the Premier League and English Football League after being dismayed by the action taken by the two organisations. Leicester are facing the potential ­double whammy of being docked points by both leagues owing to alleged financial breaches. Leicester, who were relegated from the top flight last season, have been placed under a transfer embargo by the EFL for allegedly exceeding the upper loss threshold in their prof ..read more

Club have so far failed to submit 2022-23 season accounts Championship side could face points deduction next season Leicester have been charged by the Premier League for ­allegedly ­breaking financial regulations, increasing fears about a potential points deduction next season. The club have been referred by the league to an independent disciplinary panel after allegedly breaching ­profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) during their three most recent seasons in the top flight. Premier League clubs are permitted to make a maximum loss of £105m across a three-year cycle ..read more

Coach defends himself and Raheem Sterling after fan backlash Pochettino targeted by fans during FA Cup win over Leicester Mauricio Pochettino defended himself against mutinous Chelsea fans after they turned on him during his side’s FA Cup quarter-final victory against Leicester. Emotions were high after ­Chelsea threw away a 2-0 lead at ­Stamford Bridge. The home fans booed Raheem Sterling and aimed chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” at Pochettino during the second half. Chelsea’s head coach, who was also barracked during a recent 2-2 draw with Brentford, was targeted after taking ..read more

Senegal forward’s finishing remains erratic, but he has coped well with the responsibility of leading the line in his first season Blink often enough and you can persuade yourself things are beginning to come into focus for Chelsea. This side are a long way from the sort of consistency that would allow them to mount anything resembling a title challenge, shaky at the back even when they’re not scoring spectacular own goals, but there are perhaps just signs that the front part of the team, tentatively, uncertainly, is beginning to emerge from the fog. Nicolas Jackson is emblematic of the p ..read more

The home side scored twice in injury time to win a crazy match that included a missed penalty, a red card and a memorable own goal 3 min Now Palmer runs at Vestergaard to win Chelsea’s first corner. It’s taken short, crossed deep and headed behind for another… 2 min Mavididi runs Gusto to win an early corner for Leicester. It’s taken short to Dewsbury-Hall, whose flat, deep cross is volleyed back across goal and wide by Winks. They’ve clearly worked on that, though it will always be a pretty difficult ball to strike on the volley ..read more