A brilliant strike from wonder winger Lloyd Dyer shot Leicester City back to the top of League One at Colchester United last night.

Three minutes after half-time, Matty Fryatt sent Dyer through on the left and the 26-year-old cut in before unleashing a superb drive into the far corner of the net for the only goal of the game.

In terms of the run of play, it had been hardly unexpected as City were in control for most of the match. But their table-topping position nearly came unstuck 10 minutes from the end when former City loanee from Spurs, Mark Yeates, rattled David Martin's left-hand post with a fantastic swerving 30-yard free-kick.

But for City to have left the Weston Homes Community Stadium with anything less than three points to take full advantage of their game in hand would have been a travesty.

City, unchanged from Saturday's win over Hartlepool, showed their appetite for the fray right from the start, carving out a good opening inside 30 seconds to gain the first corner.

And less than two minutes later, Fryatt headed just wide from a fine Kerrea Gilbert cross from the right.

In contrast, Colchester had set out their stall in a very different manner, a five-man midfield leaving Clive Platt up front as a lone striker – not the most positive attitude for a team on their own patch.

Platt, booked in the first half for a late block on Chris Powell, failed to cash in on the Us only first-half opening when he could not turn to get his shot in, and the first half was a procession as City drove forward relentlessly.

Fryatt was so unlucky just before the break when a close-range header struck, rather than was saved by, goalkeeper Dean Gerken moments after Gerken had dived full length to save the striker's 20-yard shot.

Any worries that City might pay for their failure to convert possession into goals soon evaporated. City again gained an instant corner after half-time and Fryatt saw a good shot blocked to safety before Dyer's fabulous goal, which was made all the better by being right in front of the Blue Army.

Dyer was a worthy match-winner because his pace and trickery proved a potent weapon for City as they produced some excellent counter-attacking play through him.

City felt, not without reason, they could, and should, have won by more than a single goal but the two front men, Steve Howard and Fryatt, did everything but find the net.

They worked tirelessly for the team and saw their attempts foiled by good saves or unfortunate deflections which denied them their just rewards.

One goal is never enough to be sure and Colchester staged a late flurry but City's defence, with Jack Hobbs and Aleksandar Tunchev at its heart, again looked impregnable. It would have taken something really special, as Yeates's free-kick so nearly was, to beat them on this form.

And this form is looking ominous for the rest of the division.