It was a tale of late heartbreak yet again for Leicester City as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with playoff rivals Brighton.Matty James put City ahead in the 73rd minute and it looked as though it was going to be enough to snatch all three points but Kazenga Lua Lua's strike two minutes from time snatched away all hopes of that elusive win.
Nigel Pearson's men can take heart from a much-improved performance than those that have graced previous weeks, but that will not do much to heal the bitter disappointment that the manager, the players and the 2,000-plus travelling City fans will be feeling right now.
City made much the brighter start at the Amex Stadium and David Nugent was convinced he should have had a penalty in the first few minutes when he was brought down in the area but referee Jon Moss did not share the same belief and booked the City striker for diving.
With City adopting a 4-3-3, it gave Jeff Schlupp the chance to impress down the centre and the youngster did just that. He consistently proved a thorn in the side for the home side with his strength, his pace and ability to hold up the ball while having a number of shots saved by Tomasz Kuszczak.
In a relatively chanceless first half, Schlupp had a golden opportunity to give his side the lead just before the break when he was played through one-on-one after a lovely ball from Andy King.
But Schlupp was unable to take the chance as he snatched at his effort and it was unable to find its way past the Brighton goalkeeper.
The visitors started very strongly in the second period but just lacked that cutting edge in the final third to give them the lead they so desperately wanted.
Yet in the 73rd minute, City thought they had nicked it when they took a lead they so rightly deserved. A long throw from Liam Moore was flicked on by substitute Ritchie De Laet.
City had a bit of luck as it rebounded through bodies straight to the feet of Matty James. The midfielder still had a lot to do and did well to get the ball out of his feet and slide the ball into the corner.
Brighton responded well though and put City under pressure.
The sight of Wes Morgan throwing his body in the way of a number of shots showed just how important he is to his side.
With 88 minutes gone, City were just a few moments away from regaining their place in the top six but it was the man who had caused City so many problems throughout the game, Kazenga Lua Lua, who had the final say.
His trickery down the left had produced the majority of Brighton's chances throughout the game but he did it all by himself when he cut inside and fired his shot past the unsighted Schmeichel.
The irony is that the Dane has been the one to keep his side in so many games this season, saving much harder shots than Lua Lua's but, with the ball going through a number of bodies, he was unable to stop the ball finding the back of the net.
It was then City who were holding on for a point in added time but they were able to ride the storm and when the final whistle blew, a draw was probably the fairest result.
City remain seventh and still sit two points outside the play-offs but Pearson's men will be able to take a lot of positives from this game as they go back to the drawing board ahead of the visit of Birmingham on Friday.
