EPL: Leicester Stutter Against Southampton

Leicester missed a chance to cement their grip on third place in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw against 10-man Southampton at St Mary's on Friday, Reuters can report.

Southampton had to play 80 minutes without Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard after he was sent off for a foul on Jamie Vardy.

But James Ward-Prowse's second-half penalty briefly put Ralph Hasenhuttl's side ahead before Jonny Evans headed Leicester's equaliser.

Leicester remain in third place, but fourth-placed Chelsea would close the gap to just two points if they beat struggling Fulham on Saturday.

Fourth place will be reduced to a Europa League qualification spot if Chelsea win the Champions League, Arsenal win the Europa League and both clubs finish outside the top four.

So Leicester need to hang onto third place to be sure of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Fourth place might still be enough for Brendan Rodgers's team, but they have only four matches left to guarantee their berth in Europe's elite club competition.

"A little frustrating, but I don't think we did enough to win the game. A great opportunity against 10 men and we're normally very good at that," Rodgers said.

"Give credit to Southampton, they defended deep and compact but we're disappointed. The speed was too slow. We didn't really start to play with that tempo until we got the equaliser.

"When we get back in again on Monday it is another point towards where we want to go. We've now got four games to go. We're in a brilliant position."

In an FA Cup semifinal rematch after Leicester's 1-0 win at Wembley two weeks ago, Southampton gave a better account of themselves to end their three-game losing streak.