Fulham 5-3 Leicester City: Foxes remain in deep trouble after dismal first-half display

Leicester City's Premier League survival hopes suffered a blow as they were beaten 5-3 by Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The hosts opened the scoring through a Willian free-kick before strikes from Carlos Vinicius and Tom Cairney powered them into a 3-0 half-time lead.

Cairney added another after the restart before Harvey Barnes pulled a goal back for the visitors, who then saw Jamie Vardy miss a penalty in the 66th minute.

Willian re-established Fulham's four-goal lead with another fine strike before James Maddison netted Leicester's second with an 81st-minute spot-kick.

Barnes scored a late third but the struggling Foxes slumped to an underwhelming defeat.

Leicester remain just above the drop zone on goal difference with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and Everton both playing later on Monday.

Fulham ended a three-match winless run and remain 10th, two points behind west London rivals Brentford.

Woeful Leicester booed off at half-time

Leicester are desperate for points and, with matches against Liverpool and Newcastle still to come, Foxes fans would have circled Fulham away as a must-win fixture in their battle to avoid the drop.

But against a side who had lost three of their past four matches at home, Leicester were woeful in the first half.

The Foxes fell behind in the 10th minute when keeper Daniel Iversen misjudged Willian's wide free-kick and the ball bounced underneath him before nestling in the bottom corner.

Vinicius' goal finished off a fine counter-attacking move before Cairney scored on just his third league start of the season with an impressive curling finish.

Trailing by three goals at the break, Leicester were booed off by the visiting fans and the mood only got bleaker when Cairney added Fulham's fourth in the 51st minute.

However, Barnes gave his side a glimmer of hope, before Vardy was caught by Bernd Leno midway through the second half - but when the striker missed the resulting spot-kick, any unlikely thoughts of a comeback ended.

Fulham soon added a fifth against a porous defence - and Leicester have now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past 20 games, an unwanted Premier League record.

There were ironic jeers when Maddison found the bottom corner from the spot in the 81st minute after he had been caught by Joao Palhinha in the box.

Barnes' 89th-minute strike made the scoreline look more respectable, but in truth the Foxes never looked like securing anything from the match.

Leicester could have gone three points clear of the drop zone with a win, but instead they remain 16th - level on points with Leeds and Nottingham Forest who are 17th and 18th.

Superb Fulham equal club record

Inspired by their impressive first-half showing, Fulham have equalled a club record of 14 wins in a single Premier League season.

There was a party atmosphere at a sun-kissed Craven Cottage as Marco Silva's side bounced back from narrow defeats to Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool.

The Cottagers completed a top-flight double over Leicester for the first time since 2004, thanks mainly to the excellent attacking work of Willian and Cairney.

Fulham need five points from their final three games to equal their record top-flight points tally of 53, from the 2008-09 campaign.

They face Southampton away in their next match on Saturday before taking on Crystal Palace and Manchester United, while Leicester host Liverpool next Monday.

Player of the match

WillianWillian

Fulham

Squad number20Player nameWillian

Squad number10Player nameCairney

Squad number8Player nameWilson

Squad number30Player nameCarlos Vinícius

Squad number26Player nameJoão Palhinha

Squad number6Player nameReed

Squad number33Player nameRobinson

Squad number17Player nameLeno

Squad number2Player nameTete

Squad number11Player nameSolomon

Squad number7Player nameKebano

Squad number14Player nameDe Cordova-Reid

Squad number28Player nameLukic

Squad number31Player nameDiop

Squad number5Player nameDuffy

Squad number4Player nameTosin

Leicester City

Squad number7Player nameBarnes

Squad number10Player nameMaddison

Squad number9Player nameVardy

Squad number4Player nameSöyüncü

Squad number31Player nameIversen

Squad number27Player nameCastagne

Squad number26Player namePraet

Squad number20Player nameDaka

Squad number8Player nameTielemans

Squad number3Player nameFaes

Squad number22Player nameDewsbury-Hall

Squad number16Player nameKristiansen

Squad number37Player nameTetê

Squad number33Player nameThomas

Squad number42Player nameSoumaré

Squad number25Player nameNdidi

Line-ups

Fulham

Formation 4-2-3-1

17Leno

2Tete4Tosin31Diop33Robinson

26João Palhinha6Reed

8Wilson10Cairney20Willian

30Alves Morais

Substitutes

Leicester

Formation 4-2-3-1

31Iversen

27Castagne3Faes4Söyüncü16Kristiansen

8Tielemans42Soumaré

26Praet10Maddison7Barnes

9Vardy

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Fulham 5, Leicester City 3.

Second Half ends, Fulham 5, Leicester City 3.

Foul by Kenny Tete (Fulham).

Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

João Palhinha (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City).

Hand ball by Carlos Vinícius (Fulham).

Goal! Fulham 5, Leicester City 3. Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Patson Daka.

Attempt missed. Shane Duffy (Fulham) header from the left side of the six yard box misses to the left. Assisted by Tosin Adarabioyo following a set piece situation.

Attempt missed. Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Neeskens Kebano with a cross following a set piece situation.

Kenny Tete (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Foul by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City).

Attempt blocked. Sasa Lukic (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Neeskens Kebano.

Carlos Vinícius (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Foul by Çaglar Söyüncü (Leicester City).

Substitution, Fulham. Neeskens Kebano replaces Harry Wilson.

Substitution, Fulham. Bobby De Cordova-Reid replaces Tom Cairney.

Substitution, Fulham. Manor Solomon replaces Willian.

Goal! Fulham 5, Leicester City 2. James Maddison (Leicester City) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.

Penalty conceded by João Palhinha (Fulham) after a foul in the penalty area.

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