Bournemouth held Leicester City to a 0-0 draw at King Power Stadium on the weekend.
Eddie Howe's Cherries were able to deny the high-flying Foxes away from home as Claudio Ranieri's side made it three games without a goal, and subsequently a win.
Second-placed Leicester were given an advantage 15 minutes into the second half when Cherries captain Simon Francis brought down Jamie Vardy in the area and was then given his marching orders by referee Andre Marriner for being the last man in defence.
Riyadh Mahrez stepped up to take the ensuing penalty only to see Artur Boruc dive to his left and save the 12-yard effort, keeping the Dorset outfit in the game.
Earlier in the contest, Joshua King had missed a pointblank header for Bournemouth before the competition's joint-top scorer Vardy fired into the upright when one-on-one with Boruc in what were major misses in the East Midlands.
The result sees Leicester remain second but fall two points behind leaders Arsenal as Bournemouth fell to 16th despite securing their 21st point of the campaign.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Leicester City: 0 (missed penalty: Riyad Mahrez 59')
AFC Bournemouth: 0 (red card: Simon Francis 57')
King Power Stadium, Leicester - 32,006
TALKING POINTS
- Are the wheels slowly falling off at Leicester? No goals in three games has to be a slight worry.
- Were Bournemouth unlucky to lose Francis? Are they capable of staying clear of the bottom three?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Leicester come up against Tottenham in the FA Cup 3rd round at White Hart Lane on Sunday before hosting Spurs in the league next Wednesday.
Bournemouth travel to Birmingham City for their cup fixture on Saturday prior to Tuesday's home league meeting with West Ham United.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Very honored and proud to make my 200th appearance for this great club. Thank you all for the support @LCFC#lcfcpic.twitter.com/xm3Yel7lnC
— Kasper schmeichel (@kschmeichel1) January 2, 2016VIDEO: #lcfc defender @FuchsOfficial talks to Foxes Player HD after his side's 0-0 draw with AFC Bournemouth#LeiBouhttps://t.co/sSvpzKt9md
— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 2, 2016Great point after going down to 10 men. Defended brilliantly as a team and @ArturBoruc stood up when we needed him! #Afcb
— charlie daniels (@chazdaniels13) January 3, 2016Showed great character & fight yesterday at the King Power. Coming away with a point in the circumstances was massive #AFCB#Cherries
— Glenn Murray (@GM_83) January 3, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Leicester's Ranieri on reaching his first goal with the club:
"We wanted to win, but it's not always possible. One point is ok and we now have 40 which was our first goal this season."
Bournemouth boss Howe on the penalty call:
"For me it's not a penalty. That was my opinion live and it still is after seeing it on the replays.
"For me, Simon has a difficult job there. Vardy has got goal side and is going towards goal at full pace. Simon has come from the side, got a clear touch on the ball and it is not a penalty, or a free-kick, in my opinion."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
7 - Jamie Vardy has won seven penalties since the start of 2014-15 in the Premier League; two more than any other player. Banged.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 2, 2016