Jordan James struck a decisive first-half winner as Leicester City recorded a much-needed 2-1 victory over Derby County, easing the pressure on under-scrutiny manager Marti Cifuentes and completing a December double over their regional rivals. In a lively contest at the King Power Stadium, Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s early opener was swiftly cancelled out by Rhian Brewster, before James restored Leicester’s lead just before the interval and the hosts dug in to withstand sustained second-half pressure.
The result, coming after back-to-back defeats had intensified calls from some Leicester supporters for Cifuentes to be sacked, ensures the Foxes will begin 2026 sitting 12th in the Championship, four points off the play-off places. Derby, who had drawn with Birmingham City only days earlier, played their part in a fiercely contested derby that underlined both teams’ promotion ambitions, but left John Eustace’s side two points and two places behind their East Midlands neighbours at the season’s halfway mark.
Early blows exchanged in lively East Midlands clash
The build-up to this derby was dominated by talk of Cifuentes’ future after a faltering start to the campaign and successive losses to Watford and his former club QPR. Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha had used his programme notes to highlight moments of progress and potential while acknowledging they had not been frequent or consistent enough, underscoring the sense that this fixture could colour how the head coach is viewed by large sections of the home support. With Jannik Vestergaard ruled out after failing to recover from a head knock, Cifuentes brought Hamza Choudhury back into the starting XI to stiffen Leicester’s midfield.