Nigel Pearson seems like the sort of man who’s desperately attempting to restrain himself at all times.

Counting to 10 and doing breathing exercises, trying to keep the beast locked away.

As James McArthur accidentally clattered into him on Saturday, the Leicester boss briefly forgot to concentrate on taking air in through his nose and out through his mouth. That happy place vanished from his mind’s eye.

Instead, his temper got the better of him and he went from prowling the touchline to grabbing the Scot by the throat and briefly pinning him down.

It was a crazy thing to do, yet an equally concerning was Pearson clinging to the Palace midfielder’s shirt afterwards, menacingly holding him back.

With deadened, provincial-town, nightclub-bouncer eyes and a vice-like grip, even Alan Pardew looked reluctant to get involved.

Then his weirdly unapologetic interview on Match of the Day just added to the peculiar scenario, saying, “It was ok […] I’m more than capable of looking after myself, don’t worry about that.”

Now, this incident will now be fully tangled up in Pearson’s rumoured sacking. The Leicester powers that be won’t want to be tied to that sort of behaviour, but really it’s the club’s terminal form that would result in any dismissal.

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It was a hard-fought, scrappy win for the Eagles in a game symptomatic of Leicester’s season; some nice football, close chances and domination against a struggling side, but no points.

I moaned that the Eagles’ defeat against Everton was a result of having too much dominance and being hit on the break.

Thankfully, away at the King Power stadium, Palace were in a far more comfortable and recognisable position; Pardew’s side sat back, soaked up the pressure by hook or by crook and looked to punish the Foxes with counter-attacks.

Julian Speroni, towering Brede Hangeland, Leicester’s wastefulness, McArthur and the woodwork all came to the rescue at times.

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I said it last week but it was the same again on Saturday; Jordon Mutch looks worryingly off the boil. The midfielder was replaced at half time by Yaya Sanogo in an attacking and positive change.

Conversely, Hangeland, Jason Puncheon, Dwight Gayle, Sanogo and the midfield duo of McArthur and goalscorer Joe Ledley all impressed – but Wilfried Zaha was my man of the match.

The winger still rarely makes the right decision twice in a row, yet he was a vital outlet for the Eagles; terrorising the Leicester defence like Pearson terrorises opposing midfielders.

This was an excellent victory for Palace. Far more reminiscent of a Tony Pulis three points than a high-scoring, tit for tat Pardew win, it showed that the side don’t just need to score two or three every game to paper over defensive cracks.

Now on to the midweek home game against Newcastle. Another win so quickly would be an enormous double boost for the club.