Deane fires Foxes in sight of summit

Leicester City moved within two points of the leaders Portsmouth at the top of the First Division yesterday as Brian Deane's header secured a 1-0 win at Brighton.

Deane, back after a two-game suspension, was left unmarked to head in Alan Rogers' free-kick on 72 minutes and make amends for a host of earlier misses. The defeat extended Brighton's winless run to seven matches and kept them in the bottom two.

On his return to his former club, Micky Adams, the Leicester manager, restored Deane to the forward line alongside Paul Dickov and James Scowcroft and his side were immediately on the attack, with Dickov testing the Brighton keeper Michels Kuipers with a shot from the edge of the area in the second minute.

The Foxes then came close on 22 minutes when Dickov burst through and rounded Kuipers only to hit the post from six yards. The loose ball was clipped goalwards by Deane, but it was hacked away by a covering Brighton defender.

Brighton came more into the game after the restart and felt they should have had a penalty at the start of the second half. Bobby Zamora played a neat backheel through to his strike partner Graham Barrett who went down under a challenge, but play was waved on.

Brighton were enjoying their best spell and came close to breaking the deadlock on the hour. Barrett's curling free-kick from 25 yards took a deflection, but Ian Walker in the Leicester goal just managed to turn the ball round the post.

On 72 minutes, however, Leciester hit back from a set piece of the own that saw Deane power home his eighth goal of the season to cut Portsmouth's lead at the top.

Brighton: Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Pethick, Mayo, Rodger, Carpenter, Sidwell (Brooker, 75), Jones (Hart, 75), Zamora, Barrett. Substitutes not used: Packham, Oatway, Hinshelwood.

Leicester City: Walker, Impey, Elliott, Heath, Rogers, McKinlay, Izzet, Stewart, Deane (Benjamin, 80), Dickov (Summerbee, 69), Scowcroft. Substitutes not used: Flowers, Stevenson, Lewis.

Referee: T Bates (Stoke on Trent).