Leeds United lose out as late Ipswich Town v Leicester City drama unfolds after Preston North End loss

Ipswich Town moved a point further head of Leeds United on Boxing Day as Sam Morsy’s twice deflected strike deep into second-half stoppage time earned them a 1-1 draw against league leaders Leicester City.

The Foxes looked destined to increase their advantage at the top of the Championship table after they had taken the lead in the 24th minute via Stephy Mavididi's goal but Morsy's late effort hit Ricardo Pereira and then struck the head of Jannik Vestergaard to find the back of the net, with the goal eventually credited as an own goal from Vestergaard.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said at full time: “Getting the goal at the end was what we deserved at the very least. I thought that we had a really positive start to the game. Leicester scored the first goal with a good bit of quality which they can do, a good move, top quality execution and finish as well.

“It was a game where we were good in most aspects. I thought we pressed really well against one of the best, if not the best build up teams in the league and limited them as well. We built well against a team that usually press well and it’s hard to create good chances against a team that is so stubborn but we created enough to warrant a goal. I thought on the whole we did a lot more right than wrong for sure.”

Leeds are now eight points behind Ipswich in second with Leicester a further six points ahead of the Tractor Boys at the top of the table. Southampton are third, three points ahead of Leeds, following their 5-0 win over Swansea City.

The Whites lost their fifth game of the season with a late 2-1 defeat at Preston North End earlier in the day. Illan Meslier was sent off for pushing Milutin Osmajić in the face and, although the Preston player crumpled to the turf very easily, the referee saw enough to issue the red card. Alan Browne headed the hosts in front soon after but Pascal Struijk looked to have rescued a point with an accurate penalty on 83 minutes after Dan James was fouled.

However, Liam Miller scored a fine goal with a minute of normal time remaining to hand Preston victory and dent Leeds' hopes of automatic promotion. Daniel Farke's side have a swift return to action as they head to West Brom in a Friday evening fixture at the Hawthorns.