A clinical display from Crystal Palace inflicted a sixth straight Premier League defeat on Leicester City and increased pressure on manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
In a game short of quality, Jean-Philippe Mateta’s opener – seven minutes into the second half – was Crystal Palace’s first effort on target.
He latched on to a through ball after a driving run from Ismaila Sarr and took a touch round the advancing goalkeeper, before tapping into the empty net for his sixth Premier League goal of the season.
England centre-back Marc Guehi then sealed the win for Palace as he superbly volleyed home a free-kick after drifting in from the left channel.
Leicester were the better team in the first period but aside from Jamie Vardy missing a one-on-one, they struggled to create any clear-cut chances.
They were slow to respond to going behind, but picked up with Vardy and Patson Daka seeing efforts go wide before Boubakary Soumare scooped a cut-back against the crossbar.
“It’s hard. We kept spirits up after five losses and we will also do it after today’s loss,” said Van Nistelrooy.
“There’s hope there, there’s spirit there in the team. But today is a big blow. I think it’s the lowest we’ve felt so far in my spell.
“It’s a worry when you concede the amount of goals we do at the moment, it’s hard to win games. It’s something we addressed. I addressed it from the first day I came in but we haven’t got that right.”
Leicester remain 19th, two points from safety, having taken just four points from 24 since Van Nistelrooy took over.
Crystal Palace climb to 14th, above Manchester United, and eight points clear of the relegation zone.
