Brennan Johnson scored twice in the second half as Nottingham Forest defeated Leicester, 2-0, to further bolster their Premier League survival bid. Leicester's terrible run of form continued.
The Wales international scored his first league goals since September, lifting Forest four points above their East Midlands opponents, who have now dropped four straight games.
There has been a noticeable improvement since Leicester defeated Forest 4-0 in the reverse matchup in October, which Forest manager Steve Cooper dubbed the worst game of his managing career.
His team appeared dead that evening, but following an amazing run in which they have dropped only one of their previous six English Premier League games, they now have a real chance of avoiding the drop.
Leicester's season was launched by that victory, but since the World Cup, when the regular season returned, they have lost all four of their matches, their performance has been dreadful. Brendan Rodgers is under additional strain this month as his team tries to avoid getting dragged back into a relegation battle.
Ryan Yates missed two chances to open the scoring for Forest. First, he misjudged his header from Remo Freuler's cross, and then, from 20 yards out, he missed the target. Forest were full of early bluster.
The best opportunity, however, fell to Leicester in the 14th minute, and Harvey Barnes ought to have scored. Barnes received an attractive cross from Marc Albrighton after moving to the right, but the forward missed the target with his initial shot.
Despite Forest's improved play, they were unable to put Danny Ward to the test, and the first half finished scoreless. After Youri Tielemans had robbed Freuler, Barnes missed again early in the second half, sending his shot wide from a perfect position.
That missed opportunity hurt Forest, as they went ahead in the 56th minute. The Welshman Johnson was sent clear by Morgan Gibbs-White after a brief break, then he turned around his international teammate Ward and rolled into an empty net. Offside was flagged by the linesman, but VAR overturned the call, allowing Johnson to score his first Premier League goal since September.
As Forest pushed for a second goal, Sam Surridge had a golden opportunity to score in the 72nd minute off of a cross from Serge Aurier, but he misjudged his free header from eight yards out.
The game was secured by Forest in the 84th minute when Johnson scored his second goal, thus that miss did not prove to be too expensive.
The three points were kept at the City Ground after Gibbs-White carried the ball forward and delivered the ideal pass for his teammate to calmly score.
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