On a day that celebrated the life and career of former West Brom striker Jeff Astle, it was an opposition striker that stole the headlines as Jamie Vardy's stoppage-time winner gave Leicester their first away win in the Barclays Premier League since December.

West Brom were 2-1 ahead at half-time as goals from Darren Fletcher and Craig Gardner were sandwiched by a David Nugent strike. They looked comfortable for the majority of the second-half, before a Robert Huth header and Vardy's strike turned the game on its head and handed Leicester the victory.

The hosts stepped onto the pitch in plain white shirts, resembling those worn when Astle scored the winner for West Brom in the 1968 FA Cup final against Everton, and the celebrations of the day seemed to spur both the team and crowd into life early on. Defender Joleon Lescott should have done much better with his free header, coming as a result of Gardner's free-kick. The former England centre-back could only head wide of the post from close range.

Lescott's miss only bothered fans for a matter of minutes, as captain Fletcher nodded his side ahead soon after. Rising highest from Chris Brunt's corner, Fletcher headed past Kasper Schmeichel into the goal. There was confusion over whether the goal would stand as Esteban Cambiasso appeared to hook the ball off the line, but goal-line technology allowed referee Martin Atkinson to award Fletcher his first goal since 2012.

Despite not being able to clear the ball for the opening goal, Cambiasso played a major part in his side's equaliser. Quick thinking from the experienced midfielder saw him knock a free kick into the path of Leonardo Ulloa, whose flick on was brought down by Nugent, who proceeded to shrug off defender Craig Dawson and slotting the ball past a helpless Boaz Myhill.

The visitors' delight was short lived, as Gardner fired West Brom back in-front just six minutes later. More poor defending from Leicester saw a Brunt cross only half cleared, allowing Garder to volley home from 12 yards out, albeit aided by a deflection off Leicester captain Wes Morgan. The goal flurry was calmed after this, however the visitors finished the half strongly and Ulloa missed a fantastic chance to level the scores just before the interval, when he met Nugent's clever knock down, only to smash the ball well over the bar.

Nigel Pearson, clearly concerned at the way the game was going, changed things around at half-time, bringing Marcin Wasilewski on which allowed Jeffrey Schlupp room to move forward. The attacking changed almost paid off on the hour mark, as Mark Albrighton's goalbound shot was deflected out for a corner by Lescott's estranged leg.

Looking much the better team, Leicester looked to press home their advantage as Riyad Mahrez and Morgan both missed chances from set-pieces before they finally found an equaliser. With ten minutes left on the clock, West Brom dropping deeper and deeper, allowing Huth to finish off a smart move from a corner. Cambiasso played a short corner to Albrighton, whose fizzed ball across the box was played back in by Nugent to Wasilewski, who headed on for Huth to tap the ball in.

Rather than looking to re-take the lead, the Baggies seemed to drop deeper and look to preserve the draw, much to the agony of the home fans. A warning of things to come was delivered when Schlupp went down under the challenge of Dawson inside the area, with no penalty given. As the game trickled into added time, Vardy stole the ball from Gareth McAuley on the halfway line, racing into the West Brom half and cooly slotting past Myhill with a low finish.

The result gives Leicester a surprising boost ahead of their final seven games, five of which are at home, as they look to avoid the drop. For West Brom and Tony Pulis, they might have been dragged back into the basement battle as they lie just seven points above the drop, with a tough run in yet to come.


Player Ratings:

West Brom (2) Leicester (3)
Myhill 6 Schmeichel 6
Dawson 5 De Laet (1) 6
Lescott 5 Morgan 5
McAuley 6 Huth 7
Brunt 7 Schlupp 6
Yacob 6 James (2) 6
Fletcher 7 Cambiasso 7
Morrison (3) 6 Albrighton 7
Gardner (2) 7 Vardy 8
Ideye (1) 6 Ulloa (3) 7
Berahino 5 Nugent 8
Substitutions
Anichebe (1) 6 Wasilewski (1) 6
Olsson (2) 6 King (2) 6
Sessegnon (3) - Mahrez (3) 7
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