Three Leicester City moments produce relegation statement to end six-month run

CommentsSportJosh Holland Sport Central Audience Writer09:55, 11 Mar 2026Leicester City's victory over Bristol City on Tuesday night, and their first clean sheet in 31 league games, has the feeling of a potential turning point this season.

Ben Nelson and Abdul Fatawu, arguably City's two contenders for Player of the Season, scored in the first half to move Gary Rowett's men out of the Championship relegation zone.

Their relegation rivals are in action on Wednesday night, with Oxford United facing Blackburn Rovers, meaning Leicester will enjoy at least 24 hours positioned outside the bottom three. But as comes with the nature of the Championship at this stage of the season, a victory and performance like this may be the catalyst to save the club's season.

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Since taking over at the King Power Stadium, Rowett has earned points against promotion chasing Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough, lost to Norwich City and held at Stoke City. The first victory, City's first in the league since January 5, not only adds to the gradual progress under the new boss, but injects confidence into a squad that has been lacking much throughout.

Rowett hasn't worked wonders at Leicester, but he has made the team better. One thing brought to the club is a 'togetherness' among the squad that, maybe, wasn't there before.

When Nelson headed the opener in from Jordan James' free-kick, the players on the pitch all joined in with the celebrations. On the bench, Harry Winks and Patson Daka, who both were dropped from the 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, were among the most animated in their celebrations.

In the second half, perhaps the biggest moment of the night, City's clean sheet was at risk. Nelson got his legs tangled with Emil Riis to hand the visitors a penalty after seemingly offering nothing all game. Riis took the penalty but was denied by Jakub Stolarczyk and received the biggest cheer of the night by far.

Rightly so, the players behind Riis watched on anxiously at the prospect of another game of conceding. Not only would the goal have put the three points in jeopardy, the mental block of keeping the ball out of the back of the net has been holding them back for months.

Stolarczyk pulled off a fine save and the likes of Hamza Choudhury and Stephy Mavididi both celebrated the save like a last-minute winner. At the time, it felt massive for the goalkeeper and team.

The introduction of Harry Winks, Patson Daka and Ricardo Pereira added experience in a bid to maintain their clean sheet. Their introductions made a significant difference in how Leicester pressed in Bristol's half, with Daka forcing them to go long.

As the game reached its conclusion, anticipation of the long awaited opposition blank began to build and excitement was simmering around LE2 for the first time in months. The last time a visiting team hadn't scored when visiting Leicester was league leaders Coventry City back on September 20 last year.

The Leicester backline, which now consists of Nelson and Caleb Okoli, have been on the receiving end of some fierce criticism throughout the barren six-month run without a clean sheet. When the full-time whistle blew, both central defenders headed straight to their goalkeeper as they embraced their own victory.

Unity, solidarity and togetherness were there for all to see on Tuesday night. Fans inside the stadium stayed to applaud and show their appreciation to the players, again for the first time in 2026.

Post-match, Rowett immediately referenced the togetherness at full-time. Another three points over the weekend against Queens Park Rangers will only breed more confidence to ensure they avoid a drop to the third division.