Billy Sharp struck for Doncaster after just six minutes but it proved a false dawn for the away side as Sven Goran-Eriksson’s men found their goal scoring form in emphatic style to record a third straight home win.
Eriksson made one change to the team that lost at Vicarage Road last Saturday, with Miguel Vitor regaining fitness to replace Jack Hobbs alongside Curtis Davies in defence.
Eriksson’s decision was quickly thrown into dispute when the visitors took an early lead after just six minutes.
Doncaster had shown threatening signs of things to come after three minutes when David Healy fired just over Chris Weale’s goal from close range when he should have given the visitors the lead.
They didn’t have to wait long for their goal however as it was Billy Sharp who was left unmarked this time when the ball flew towards the striker at pace. And he made no mistake with the finish, smashing a wonderful volley past Weale to give his side a deserved lead.
The early goal stunned the Foxes into life however, and they began to push for an equaliser.
On 15 minutes, Vassell produced a good cross for Richie Wellens but the former Doncaster man could only fire wide of Neil Sullivan’s right hand post after struggling to find space to pick his spot.
Doncaster had more desperate defending to thank for keeping their lead minutes later when, after some excellent passing at the heart of City’s midfield, Wellens found Yuki Abe in the box, but the Japanese midfielder was blocked out just as he looked to test Sullivan.
The Foxes continued to pass the ball superbly and created several chances without success – and their failure to score from a corner kick this season continued when Andy King’s header bounced off the bar on 25 minutes.
For all of Leicester’s efforts, it was Doncaster who nearly doubled their lead after half an hour. Curtis Davies failed to reach Chris Weale with a weak header and Billy Sharp pounced on the ball before rounding the City ‘keeper but his shot flew wide of goal.
Eriksson was then forced into making a change on 35 minutes when Roman Bednar picked up another injury – the striker limped off to be replaced by Lloyd Dyer and, as always, the winger made a huge impact on proceedings.
Moments after coming on, Dyer played a perfectly weighted ball to Vassell but the energetic striker couldn’t find a way past Sullivan.
Then, on the stroke of half time the Foxes were thrown a life line when Dyer was again involved. Sullivan did well to race out and gather the ball at Dyer’s feet. The winger then fell backwards over the ‘keeper and the referee didn’t hesitate, pointing to the spot – Doncaster were incensed and would have felt sick when Gallagher converted the penalty to level matters at half time.
Leicester’s confidence was clear to see at the start of the second period and Cunningham nearly gave the home side the lead. His free kick from 20 yards had Sullivan beaten but the cross bar came to the veteran ‘keepers rescue.
The Foxes continued to dominate and it wasn’t long before they established a lead.
Richie Wellen’s - City’s most impressive performer on the day – picked the ball up 40 yards from goal, with the Doncaster defence waiting for the midfielder to pass the ball, Wellen’s advanced on goal and fired the ball low and hard past Sullivan and into his bottom right hand corner.
City were so comfortable in possession that they never looked like losing the ball and it was only a matter of time before they grabbed their third and most crucial goal.
Doncaster were chasing the game when they flew forward in a rare attack on 70 minutes but were dispossessed by Richie Wellens. Advancing forward, the midfielder had three players to choose from and opted to play the ball to Naughton. There was never any doubt that he would score as the Tottenham loanee coolly slotted the ball past Sullivan to secure all three points for the Foxes with 20 minutes to play.
By this point the away side were chasing shadows as the likes of King, Abe, Dyer and Naughton passed the ball around midfield superbly.
And, the confident passing brought deserved reward for Darius Vassell who finally scored his first goal for the Foxes on 75 minutes when Lloyd Dyer played yet another excellent through ball and this time Vassell would not be denied as he placed the ball through Sullivan’s legs and into the net.
The former England striker then received a standing ovation as he was replaced by Martyn Waghorn late on and even the former Sunderland man had time to get his name on the score sheet.
Andy King was again denied by the woodwork when he found himself one-on-one with Sullivan. But City’s top goal scorer could only fire his effort against the post.
Leicester’s luck was clear to see though when the rebound fell kindly to Waghorn who smashed the ball home to give Eriksson’s men an emphatic win that equals the Foxes highest goal tally in a match at the Walkers Stadium.
The excellent result sees the Foxes climb to 13th in the Championship table, again closing the gap to the play-off pack to just five points.