By
Dean Smith insists Leicester have achieved nothing and must keep pushing after exiting the drop zone.
Earned Timothy Castagne’s first goal since August a vital 2-1 comeback victory over Wolves.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s penalty canceled out Matheus Cunha’s lead as Leicester won for the first time in 10 Premier League games.
It was Smith’s first win in charge since replacing Brendan Rodgers this month, with the Foxes now above the relegation zone on goal difference.
They will travel to Leeds one point and one place above them on Tuesday before hosting Everton – who have dropped to the bottom three – next Monday.
«It doesn’t mean anything, we have to keep coming out of there and separating ourselves as much as possible,» said Foxes boss Smith, with Leicester the only side in the bottom five to win this weekend.
“We will enjoy this moment and how it feels to win a game after a while and get ready for Tuesday and Leeds.
“It is a huge victory, the one we needed. He shows a lot of character to come from a goal down and a mistake that led to a goal. He will mentally give all players a ride.
“I think there is relief because of the run we have been on. I just turned to them in the dressing room and said, ‘Enjoy it but don’t overdo it because we have another great game on Tuesday’ and recovery is the most important thing for them now.»
Smith had to fumble with his plans on Saturday morning after losing James Maddison to illness and Leicester were brilliant, with Jamie Vardy threatening and Toti Gomes needed to block from Tete, but any early optimism evaporated with a Wolves opener after 13 minutes .
Youri Tielemans’ heavy touch saw the midfielder plundered by Mario Lemina with the ball racing towards Cunha, who fired low past Daniel Iversen from 18 yards.
For a while Leicester were creaky, with Pablo Sarabia threatening and Craig Dawson deflecting a shot wide before the Foxes equalized against the run of play.
A quick counter-attack allowed Ihenancho to surge forward and slot through Vardy, who was brought down by Jose Sa to allow the ex-Manchester City forward to clear the penalty.
Vardy failed to reappear for the second half after being caught in the ankle by Sa and substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall went off over 11 minutes after the restart.
The Foxes had rediscovered their confidence and Sa denied Caglar Soyuncu before Leicester grabbed their decisive winner with 14 minutes remaining.
Boubakary Soumare and Daka combined to clear Victor Kristiansen and his left-footed cross was converted by Castagne from 12 yards out.
Iversen still needed to deflect Ruben Neves’ late free-kick but the Foxes held on to leave Wolves six points above the drop zone and manager Julen Lopetegui remains vigilant.
“This is the worst message we can send to players (who have a cushion). It’s a very dangerous message because I know what football is like and what the Premier League is like,» she said.
“Until you’ve achieved a goal you haven’t done anything yet. Sometimes it’s not easy to explain it but it’s about football. Let’s be very clear with this message to players, they know that.
“Obviously we are frustrated as we haven’t achieved anything positive here. We have to recover very quickly. We have a tough match in two days (against Crystal Palace). We did good things but not enough.
“I think you want to have positives, win or draw. You have to focus on the little details.
“We did very well 55 minutes but we had the chance to get more and score a second goal which we didn’t do. Too bad we conceded the second goal.»
Premier League: Fulham 2-1 Leeds | Brentford 1-1 Villa | Palace 0-0 Everton | Leicester 2-1 Wolves | Liverpool 3-2 Forest
