Leicester City 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

Last updated : 28 September 2002 By Footymad Previewer

Leicester hung on to record their best ever start to a season despite being reduced to ten men after midfield star Muzzy Izzet was sent off.

The Turkish international was booked just before the break for a late tackle on Denis Irwin and then, midway through the second half, he was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Alex Rae which referee Mike Riley ruled illegal.

A fifth minute penalty was the difference between the two sides and it means City are now unbeaten in their last eight games and have yet to drop a point in their new Walkers Stadium.

The goal came about when Izzet played a quick free-kick to the feet of Paul Dickov who was hauled down as he tried to turn his marker Lee Naylor.

The Scottish international dusted himself down to roll the penalty into the right-hand corner of the net with the keeper diving the wrong way.

Thereafter chances were at a premium as both sides struggled to discover any rhythm in a bad-tempered encounter riddled by yellow cards and free-kicks.

The only other real threat on the Wolves goal came in the 49th minute when a mis-hit cross from Frank Sinclair wrong-footed the keeper but the ball bounced to safety off the top of the bar.

Despite enjoying the majority of possession following Izzet's dismissal Wolves rarely threatened to equalise.

Their only real chance came in the 73rd minute courtesy of a blunder by Ian Walker.

The City keeper was slow to clear a comfortable Callum Davidson back-pass and under pressure from Dean Sturridge, Walker panicked and picked up the ball to concede a free-kick just six yards out and directly in front of goal.

But Walker redeemed himself when he beat out Naylor's close-range drive after Paul Ince stroked the free-kick back to the Wolves defender.

Afterwards Leicester City manager Micky Adams said: "It was not one of our most fluent performances but we did dig in deep, showing our talents off and putting our bodies on the line.

"You couldn't say they created many chances. I don't want to get involved in the Muzzy Izzet sending off. It's up to those that saw the match to make up their own minds about the referee's performance."

Wolves manager Dave Jones said: "It was very frustrating. It was a bad penalty to give away because we'd talked in our build-up about Paul Dickov getting under our feet and that's exactly what happened.

"He's a tricky player and a defender put a leg out and Dickov fell over it.

"We can't afford to give away penalties as easy as that."