BATTLING Leicester are learning fast that they’ll have to scrap until they drop to win the title.
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Their so-called ‘easy’ run-in is proving anything but as the Premier League’s smaller fry try to trip them up.
Norwich proved a tough nut on Saturday when Claudio Ranieri’s men had to wait until the death to nick all three points.
Tony Pulis’ Baggies were never going to hand them anything on a plate after notching back-to-back league wins either.
This promised to be a potentially tricky fixture for the leaders and Foxes boss Ranieri had stressed the need to be patient.
But he couldn’t have banked on them being behind so early on after they had made a confident start and dominated the opening 10 minutes.
They were stunned by a sucker punch in the 11th minute when Salomon Rondon muscled Albion into the lead.
Darren Fletcher split the Leicester back line with an incisive pass but Rondon still had a lot to do – not least shrug aside powerhouse Robert Huth.
But he brushed him off with sheer brute force before squeezing the ball home through the legs of advancing keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
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Leicester could have equalised but Shinji Okazaki guided two efforts over and Jamie Vardy headed straight into Ben Foster’s arms from eight yards out.
However, they were about to get a somewhat bizarre helping hand when poor Jonas Olsson deflected a Danny Drinkwater shot into his own net in the 30th minute.
Drinkwater chanced his arm from well outside the box and his shot hit the Swedish centre-back and ended up flying into the air and looping over Foster.
The Foxes should have taken the lead soon after when Drinkwater found Vardy in the six-yard box.
The England striker powered his header goalwards and gave Foster no chance but he was left stamping the floor in frustration as the ball crashed against the crossbar.
But right on half-time Leicester got their noses in front with a goal which was as much about the impressive buildup as Andy King’s stunning finish.
Marc Albrighton spotted Riyad Mahrez over on the far side of the box and when the winger whipped the ball over, the Algerian laid the ball into the path of King with a wonderful ‘kill’ with the outside of his foot.
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The Wales midfielder took it as it dropped and curled a halfvolley into the far corner of the net with pinpoint precision.
Ranieri threw his arms into the air jubilantly but the Italian’s joy was short-lived as Albion equalised five minutes after the interval.
What a cracker it was too – Craig Gardner sweeping a 25-yard free-kick over the Foxes wall to leave Schmeichel rooted to the spot as the ball flew into the top corner of the Dane’s net.
Leicester were again denied by the woodwork in the 58th minute when Okazaki met Albrighton’s cross with a powerful header only to see it crash against the bar.
