Leicester City kept pace with Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 1-1 draw away to bottom-placed Aston Villa on Saturday.
Shinji Okazaki opened the scoring for the Foxes in the 28th minute, pouncing on a loose ball inside the penalty area after Villa goalkeeper Mark Bunn had denied Jamie Vardy's initial effort.
Riyad Mahrez could have doubled Leicester's advantage, but was unable to convert from the penalty spot after the Foxes were awarded a controversial spot kick for handball.
Leicester were left to rue the missed opportunity, with Rudy Gestede putting the home side back on level terms with a deflected shot with 15 minutes remaining.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Aston Villa: 1 (Rudy Gestede 75')
Leicester City: 1 (Shinji Okazaki 28')
Villa Park, Birmingham (32,763)
TALKING POINTS
Villa followed up their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace mid-week with another solid performance against high-flying Leicester and despite still being nine points away from safety, the club's fans may be starting believe that avoiding relegation this season is a legitimate possibility.
Leicester meanwhile will be left ruing a missed opportunity to claim outright first place in the Premier League. If the Foxes hope to be legitimate title contenders this season, dropping points to the league's bottom team is not going to help their cause.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Aston Villa host League Two Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup on Tuesday, before travelling to the Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
Leicester will take on Tottenham in an FA Cup third round replay on Tuesday, before welcoming Stoke City to the King Power Stadium for Saturday's Premier League clash
TWITTER INSIGHT
We carry on fighting #UTVpic.twitter.com/39ovTdpviW
— Mark Bunn (@MBGKA) January 16, 2016VIDEO: #lcfc striker Shinji Okazaki talks Foxes Player HD through his first half goal against Aston Villa. #AstLeihttps://t.co/8IZCM3bTxl
— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 16, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said he felt his side dropped two points:
"Yes, we lost two points. We started very well and scored a goal but after the missed penalty the Aston Villa players took a new energy.
"If we score a second goal, we close the match. We are very sad but also I say to the players 'if we make the performance the result is not important'.
Aston Villa manager Remi Garde believes his side have shown what it takes two avoid relegation in their past two outings:
"If you look at the two games we've played we can be pleased about the spirit. These players have the right attitude to try to save the club from relegation. Sometimes it takes time.
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
33 - Leicester City will now be top of the PL for 33 days in 2015-16, the same number that Spurs have been top in total since 1992. Serious.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 16, 20165 - Shinji Okazaki has now scored five goals for Leicester City in all competitions, all of them coming away from home. Trip.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 16, 2016