Stephy Mavididi finally gave Leicester City fans something to cheer as his winner at Blackburn Rovers secured a 1-0 victory and a first win in nine league games. The strike, only his fourth goal of the season, came at the end of a harrowing campaign for the Foxes and ensured the curtain fell on a forgettable season for both clubs.
Already relegated, Leicester could not even improve on second-bottom, but they extended Rovers' woes at home, where Blackburn ended the campaign with the second-worst home record in the Championship behind Sheffield Wednesday. With Michael O'Neill having already guided Blackburn to safety and Leicester already down, the emphasis at Ewood Park was on honouring the memory of former player and manager Tony Parkes.
An End-of-Season Affair Shaped by Tribute
Both sides have had campaigns to forget, but the death of Ewood legend Tony Parkes last week put that into perspective, and Rovers' rise out of danger under O'Neill had also engendered optimism among the home fans. The occasion carried added poignancy for the visitors: it came ten years to the day after Leicester were crowned Premier League champions, a remarkable past now contrasted by a present that has seen them drop into the third tier for only the second time in their 142-year history.