Leicester City were given a reality check on Tuesday as they followed up their impressive dismantling of Manchester City with an underwhelming 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth.
The Premier League champions wowed in Saturday's 4-2 win over City and showed glimpses of the form which secured their historic title success, but they struggled to replicate that display at the Vitality Stadium and rarely looked like completing back-to-back top-flight wins for the first time since April.
Although Leicester started brightly, Bournemouth got to grips with their visitors soon enough and afforded them few opportunities, with Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy – confirmed seventh and eighth respectively in the 2016 Ballon d'Or on Monday – particularly quiet.
Marc Pugh's 34th-minute strike gave Bournemouth the lead they deserved during a strong first-half display, as the hosts made the most of Leicester's passive performance.
Leicester mustered a collective improvement after the break but they rarely looked menacing in attack despite getting men forward in numbers on occasion
Leicester were 2-0 up inside five minutes against Pep Guardiola's men at the weekend and they began with similar purpose at the Vitality Stadium.
Vardy was the first to trouble Bournemouth, racing on to Mahrez's through pass and seeing his eventual shot blocked by Steve Cook after skipping beyond Artur Boruc.
Bournemouth gradually started to exert control, with Jack Wilshere forcing Ron-Robert Zieler into action 21 minutes in – the German saving the 20-yard effort down to his left.
Zieler initially made a smart save to deny Benik Afobe from Adam Smith's cut-back, but Pugh - making his first start of the season - latched on to the rebound on the edge of the area and produced a half-volley which found the net despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to it.
Bournemouth were then forced to rely upon Boruc in stoppage time, when the Polish goalkeeper kept out Leonardo Ulloa's point-blank effort to effectively secure all three points.
