James Ward-Prowse questions Leicester City 'sportsmanship' after Southampton controversy

James Ward-Prowse has questioned Leicester City's "sportsmanship" after their controversial opening goal against Southampton.

Leicester beat the Saints 4-1 at the King Power Stadium on Sunday as they rounded off their 2021-22 season on a positive note. The result saw them finish eighth in the Premier League table.

The margin of victory was comfortable in the end but the key incident in the game surrounded City's opener early in the second half. The goal came from a drop ball, with Kasper Schmeichel launching it upfield before Jamie Vardy capitalised on an error by Lyanco to force Alex McCarthy into a save, only for James Maddison to tuck home the rebound.

The goal prompted a discussion between the two sets of players and referee Jon Moss in the centre circle, while visiting boss Ralph Hasenhuttl and Brendan Rodgers debated the goal on the touchline with the fourth official. Southampton felt they should have received the ball back without pressure, as they were in possession when the game was initially stopped for a Vardy head injury.

Hasenhuttl said in his post-match press conference that he had hoped City would let Adam Armstrong walk the ball into the net to level up the game. However, that did not happen.

“We all saw what happened,” said Hasenhuttl. “My view is when you have the ball and the referee stops the game, you have the ball back, but today it was different. We have to accept it but it was hard to understand.

“When you kick it long and go for the header or the second ball, for me, this is not giving the ball back. Giving the ball back is when we have the ball and you wait until we have the ball and then you start attacking us, and that’s okay.

“I don’t know why Vardy pressed. He said he didn’t know he