A Riyad Mahrez free kick seven minutes into stoppage time has denied Bournemouth victory at the King Power Stadium, helping the Foxes to a 1-1 draw at the death and maintaining the four-point gap between the sides in the table.

The host fell behind in the first half to a Joshua King penalty kick, and looked dead and buried in the 97th minute, before a moment of magic from the Algerian levelled the match.

After a shaky start to the afternoon, Leicester created the first meaningful chance in the 15th minute when Mahrez pounced on a bad backpass and tested Asmir Begovic with a powerful strike the Bosnian stopper could only turn behind.

Bournemouth came close less than 10 minutes later as Callum Wilson's cut-back fell kindly for Junior Stanislas to smash in front of goal, the winger turning his effort inches wide.

King fired the Cherries in front from the spot in the 35th minute after drawing a foul from Marc Albrighton in the box, stepping up himself to rifle the ball beyond Kasper Schmeichel, sending the stopper the wrong way.

A dire backpass by Harry Maguire almost sent Wilson clean through on goal right on the stroke of half time, but Schmeichel came racing off his line and made a crucial interception to keep the scoreline at 1-0.

Bournemouth sat deep and restricted the Foxes to shots from range in the second period, with Mahrez trying his luck on 65 minutes and putting his effort into the stands.

Jamie Vardy looked dangerous in the closing stages, but the England international blew a clear-cut chance to equalise in the 70th minute, skying an effort from close range after being given a clear sight of goal.

Begovic pulled off a double save to thwart Maguire four minutes later, parrying the defender's ball across the face of goal and reacting well to keep him out on the rebound, as the hosts turned up the pressure.

A sliced clearance by Dan Gosling late in the game put Begovic under unnecessary pressure, but Mahrez could only find the stand behind the goal when he took the deflection on the volley.

Mahrez, however, would have the final say in stoppage time. With 97 minutes on the clock, the referee awarded a free kick to Leicester 25 yards out, penalising Steve Cook for a foul on Kelechi Iheanacho.

The Algeria international stepped up and struck a venomous effort into the bottom corner to send the King Power Stadium into raptures.

Mahrez's late equaliser ensures that Leicester remain in eighth place in the Premier League table, while Bournemouth are 11th.

LEICESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Amartey (Chilwell, 20'), Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs (Diabate, 79'); James, Ndidi; Mahrez, Silva (Iheanacho, 59'), Albrighton; Vardy

BOURNEMOUTH (3-4-3): Begovic; Francis, S. Cook, Ake; Smith, L. Cook, Gosling, Daniels; King (Mousset, 91'), Stanislas, Wilson (Surman, 77')