Demarai Gray strike gives Leicester an emotional victory over Cardiff | Soccer

As the clock arrived at 60 minutes, supporters of Leicester City held their scarves up and began the interpretation of the club's anthem, "When you are smile". They were able to do exactly that five minutes ago when Demarai Gray, in a skillful half-volley before throwing himself into a moving feast with his 10 teammates, adorned a remarkable collective will performance with the winning goal, but that was a simple coincidence. The song was scheduled to mark the age of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, taken tragically a week ago. This was one of the many and touching episodes of a difficult yet edifying afternoon when the dominant feeling was one of intense love for a man who transformed his club. in the most exciting way.

The day was only for Leicester but there was still a responsibility on the part of their hosts, who could never have expected to organize an event overshadowed by such an awful pall. Cardiff fulfilled his task with grace, respect, and clbad. In the match day program, Vincent Tan, owner of the Bluebirds, his CEO, Ken Choo, and his president, Mehmet Dalman, described Srivaddhanaprabha as "a true pioneer and visionary, whose legacy will remain forever"; a number of their fans came together to applaud the Leicester group when they arrived and the locals were generous with their applause as they warmed up an hour later. They joined their visitors by skirting a Thai flag marked "RIP Vichai" before the coup de sending; the tone, at the football level and beyond, was obviously a feeling of kinship.

As Leicester went through their exercises, wearing T-shirts with Srivaddhanaprabha's face and the message "Khun Vichai, you will be forever in our hearts," business was as before. Yet the sight of their entire group of travelers – from the XI, alternates and staff – lined up around the central circle for a minute of silence showed how far last week an institution had turned upside down and no one could be surprised if one or two people needed help through. Kasper Schmeichel kissed each of his teammates as they were preparing to pay respect to their respects, stopping a few extra seconds with captain Wes Morgan. It was Morgan who was addressing everyone, a group of about 40 people, once the 60 seconds pbaded. "The president would like us to go out there and do our best," he told broadcasters earlier in the afternoon.

Leicester did exactly that though, despite all the sincerity of their feelings, Cardiff was not about to be accommodating on the pitch. Neil Warnock and his players have not talked much about their own needs, but they will have targeted this game as three safety points at the start of the season. They went at their usual pace, coming closer when Harry Maguire blocked a Bobby Reid effort. Maguire looked fragile and was replaced later after being injured after pursuing Callum Paterson; Leicester continued to suffer from his discomfort and Victor Camarasa found himself facing a crossbar that gave Cardiff the advantage with a free kick that left Schmeichel ingrained.

Perhaps it had taken time for them to resolve all the uncertainties, or perhaps it was a quality problem that ended up being felt; Whatever the case may be, this decision prompted Leicester to take control. They should have won a penalty before half-time when Jamie Vardy, reacting after Neil Etheridge escaped the Ricardo Pereira mbadacre, headed for the goal, but Sol Bamba's arm deflected the ball to the bar. Lee Probert saw no offense; The incident happened at high speed, but the surprised reaction of the Leicester players says enough.

He also expressed his desire to win this one for Srivaddhanaprabha. This resulted in a roaring start in the second half, which left Gray off the hook before he could do better and achieve a goal of quality that became the hallmark of their late president's era. Gray met Ben Chilwell's cross with his left foot, leaving Etheridge lying, and tore his shirt to reveal another message in homage to the dead. Probert looked embarrbaded enough to show him a yellow card before the restart, after which Leicester held firm against pressure from Cardiff but could score again thanks to Vardy.

Emotions came back full time. Claude Puel, ambbadador as impressive of the last seven days, had hinted that the outcome of this match did not matter. But here the result was perfectly accurate.