Leicester City's Abdul Fatawu (far right) scores with a 95th-minute volley against West BromShutterstock

Abdul Fatawu's goal against West Brom was his fifth of the season for Leicester

Andrew Aloia
BBC Sport, East Midlands

Abdul Fatawu scored a 94th-minute volley to snatch a much-needed Championship victory for Leicester City against a dominant West Bromwich Albion on a tense night of fan protests at the King Power Stadium.

A combination of freezing temperatures and the decision of some Foxes fans to boycott the match, in a public show of discontent at how owner Khun Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddhanaprabha has handled the club in recent years, meant there were swathes of empty seats at the 32,000-capacity ground.

Jordan Ayew gave the supporters who did show up an early reason to celebrate, linking up with Jordan James in the box to sweep home the opening goal from eight yards out.

Karlan Grant equalised for Albion before the break, racing into space on the counter-attack before picking out the bottom corner with a curling finish.

The visitors carved out numerous second-half chances - an Isaac Price effort deflected onto the post while Foxes keeper Jakub Stolarczyk made a string of fine saves after that – before Fatawu slammed home the winner against the run of play in the last minute of stoppage time.

Outcome does little to lessen pressure on either boss

Leicester City manager Martí Cifuentes and Abdul Fatawu of Leicester City celebrate Getty Images

Marti Cifuentes (right) took charge of Leicester in the summer after leaving QPR

The laboured nature of the victory will do little to alleviate the pressure on Foxes manager Marti Cifuentes, while a 10th successive away defeat also leaves Baggies boss Ryan Mason facing significant scrutiny as they languish in 18th spot - six points and six places behind the Foxes.

While there were more of the now-familiar jeers aimed at Foxes players and under-fire boss Cifuentes during the game, it was the silence of the fans who chose to stay away for Leicester's first home game of 2026 which sent the clearest message of the growing dissatisfaction at how the club is being run.

The absence of open dialogue with the club's hierarchy after a year that produced just 13 wins from 47 matches across all competitions, and lack of reinvention after the Foxes suffered their second Premier League relegation in three years to slip into the bottom half of the Championship, are among a catalogue of supporters' gripes.

All that is only complicated further by the club's protracted legal battle over alleged profit and sustainability rule breaches the Premier League charged them with almost eight months ago.

Inconsistent results this season, and the latest run of just one win from four before the visit of the Baggies, had Cifuentes clinging to his job.

West Brom boss Mason is no different - after their 1-0 defeat by Swansea four days earlier, the 34-year-old admitted he is not immune to the risk of losing his job after a run of five defeats in seven matches.

That sequence became six defeats in eight on Monday night as West Brom were made to pay for a slow start - and Fatawu's fabulous finish late on.

An excellent team move, which included fine one-touch play between Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Fatawu and James, had the Baggies chasing the game after 18 minutes when Ayew pounced for his fifth goal of the season.

A goal-line clearance from Ricardo Pereira denied Mikey Johnston a leveller on the half-hour mark, with the hosts also fortunate not to concede a penalty in the build-up to the chance when Hamza Choudhury appeared to shove Aune Heggebo.

The visitors only had to wait another four minutes for Grant to restore parity, while George Campbell almost nodded them ahead before the break with an effort that skipped across the face of goal.

Leicester's Ben Nelson had a header flash just wide of the post immediately after the interval, but it was West Brom that dominated the chances over 90 minutes.

Price had a shot diverted onto the woodwork by the outstretched leg of Caleb Okoli, while Heggebo, Samuel Iling-Junior and Campbell were all denied by Stolarczyk in a man-of-the-match performance by the home keeper.

And Fatawu punished Mason's men in devastating fashion as the game appeared to be heading for a draw, meeting a pinpoint cross from Stephy Mavididi to crash home the winner from 15 yards out.

Cifuentes wants performances to 'encourage' fans back - reaction

Marti Cifuentes: 'I would appreciate that everyone is together.'

Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:

"It's always good to have a win, at home especially. It was great goal from Abdul at the end and the first goal, as well, was a very nice combination for the whole team.

"Definitely, I would say it was a better first-half performance. But I value the togetherness and the capacity to stick together that the guys had in the difficult periods of the second half. Overall, I'm happy for the players.

"The three points doesn't mean that I'm not aware that there are parts of the game that we need to get much better at, and that's what we are working on."

On the fans' boycott: "To the fans that came, I appreciate it because it was a cold night. I hope they got their reward with the last-minute goal and that they went home happy.

"For those that didn't come, I fully respect what their thoughts are. I have full respect for all the fans and I hope we can produce much better performances and better results so they are encouraged to come."

West Bromwich Albion boss Ryan Mason told BBC Radio WM:

"It seems to be the way of it at the moment. We are on a terrible run in terms of away games, but you look at the last seven or eight games that we have played, we have had more shots at goal than the opposition, more shots on target, more chances created, and conceded so little at our end as well.

"But for some reason, pretty much every shot that goes on our target ends up as a goal, which is incredible. We are just not able to capitalise on our moments.

"Standing on the side of the pitch, I got so much pride in my team, especially in the moment we are in, because they keep running and they never stop running for me. But also they play the game with so much quality.

"I am proud of the team and proud of the performance, and we deserve so much more. In reality, a lack of discipline at the end cost us what would have been a harsh point in my opinion and we end up coming away with nothing."

Player of the match

J. Stolarczyk
7.17
1 J. Stolarczyk
7.17
6 J. James
6.84
7 A. Fatawu
6.16
4 B. Nelson
5.77
25 L. Page
5.70
10 S. Mavididi
5.69
5 C. Okoli
5.67
22 O. Skipp
5.62
9 J. Ayew
5.43
17 H. Choudhury
5.27
21 Ricardo Pereira
5.22
28 J. Monga
5.07
14 B. De Cordova-Reid
5.06
20 P. Daka
4.96
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