Brighton earned a point against Leicester in the Premier League thanks to Evan Ferguson's late header. The replacement's nod sealed a 2-2 draw and continued the Seagulls' push for the top five.
In order to counter Kaoru Mitoma's spectacular first goal, the hosts scored through Harvey Barnes and Marc Albrighton. The Foxes have yet to come back from a deficit to gain a point this year.
When Danny Welbeck was struck by Luke Thomas, Brighton was in control and should have been awarded a penalty, but Solly March blew a golden opportunity seconds before Barnes' goal. The Seagulls lost the opportunity to leap into the top five of the Premier League, but instead moved up to sixth, while Leicester advanced to 14th in a crowded mid-table.
From the beginning, it didn't appear like the visitors had much to be concerned about, and Robert Sanchez and Lewis Dunk worked together to push the ball away from Jamie Vardy, who had another uneventful afternoon.
Time is catching up with his star player, who has scored just once in the league this season, according to manager Brendan Rodgers, who said as much in the previous week.
Even though the former England player scored 17 goals in 33 games the previous season, there was little evidence to suggest that he would be able to turn back the clock many more times this season. Pervis Estupinan's early clatter from behind and hefty touch made it clear that the forward was only slowing down.
Although the Foxes' 28 goals are the most in the bottom half of the table, scoring goals has not necessarily been a problem for them. However, they still need to score more if they want to continue to upend the market as they have in the past.
The hosts were unable to find the openings despite Brighton's high-risk slow build-up from the back as the Seagulls controlled possession. However, Roberto De Zerbi's team didn't find a gap until the 24th minute, and even then it came from a corner when Jan Paul Van Hecke headed Pascal Gross' delivery over despite Danny Ward's touch changing the flight.
However, Brighton just had to wait four minutes for the game to get started. Estupinan was able to locate Mitoma, who did a thesis on dribbling at university, on the left side thanks to some clever play from Alexis Mac Allister and Adam Lallana.
Then, the international player from Japan had plenty of time to tease Timothy Castagne, cut inside, and skillfully curl the ball from 20 yards into the top corner.
Even though they had a well-earned advantage, they only kept it for nine minutes. The Seagulls had been relaxed and willing to move the ball at their own speed, but they were defeated when the Foxes suddenly came to life.
The ball was pushed wide by Kieran Dewsbury-Hall to Barnes, who sprinted inside and had his shot stopped by Joel Veltman. When the ball broke, Albrighton, who had just been on the field for three minutes after replacing the injured Dennis Praet, swept in at the far post after Youri Tielemans had been denied by Lewis Dunk.
Given how much control Brighton had, a leveler came as a surprise. The second half followed a similar pattern, with the Seagulls incensed that Welbeck's clipping by Thomas wasn't called for a penalty.
The Seagulls surrounded the referee, Thomas Bramall, and it appeared to be a foul. De Zerbi was cautioned for his protests while standing on the sidelines. Despite their disappointment, the visitors nevertheless produced a magnificent opener a few minutes later, due to further excellent work from Mitoma.
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