Spurs are undone by craft of Foxes
FIRST law of the jungle, aggravate Jamie Vardy at your peril. Second, watch your back and do not under any circumstances invite Riyad Mahrez to take aim with his left foot.
Tottenham failed to obey either and so unleashed one of those hyperactive performances from Leicester which took the Premier League by storm two years ago.
Vardy proved a persistent menace up front and Mahrez was silky smooth out wide and Spurs were two down by half-time and still refused to give up, which made for thrilling entertainment.
Leicester turned back time and secured their first home victory over Tottenham since leaving Filbert Street in 2002 and continued their improvement under new boss Claude Puel. For Mauricio Pochettino, this was another disappointment on the road.
And another setback for his hopes of making the top four for the third year in a row. Tottenham made four changes to the team held by West Brom on Saturday but were soon forced back by Leicester’s positive opening. Hugo Lloris made the first save of the night to deny Wilfred Ndidi and Danny Rose, back in the team, cleared a header by Wes Morgan.
Leicester made good early progress down their left flank and this was the route of attack for the opener, which silenced the unsavoury taunts about Vardy’s wife Rebekah, who is taking part in the reality TV show I’m a Celebrity Get
Me Out of Here set in the jungle in Australia.
Harry Maguire found Marc Albrighton out wide and he clipped a pass into the space behind Tottenham’s three centre halves.
Vardy sped on to it and as the ball dropped over his shoulder met it with a right-footed volley which lobbed the ball with precision over Lloris. The finish was sublime. Vintage Vardy, in fact, and off he skipped to cup his ear at the Spurs supporters as they were reminded by the home crowd how their team contrived to finish third in a two-horse title race in 2016 on a night when Vardy was having a legendary party.
Tottenham summoned a strong response, turning up their tempo and ought to have levelled within three minutes when Kane found Moussa Sissoko charging into Kasper Schmeichel’s area.
Schmeichel spread his body and took the sting from Sissoko’s shot but Vicente Iborra was still required to hook clear. Kane has a fabulous goal ratio against Leicester, with four in a 6-1 win at the King Power Stadium in the penultimate game of last season, but his early attempts were foiled.
Schmeichel made another fine save, this time from Dele Alli, who missed the target as the rebound came back to him at pace. Rose arrived on the run at the back-post but was unable to control an attempt at a spectacular finish.
Schmeichel saved from Serge Aurier and then Mahrez punished them on the counter-attack in stoppage-time before the interval.
Cutting inside from the right and gliding past Jan Vertonghen along the 18-yard line, the Leicester winger took aim and shaped a brilliant curling shot inside the far post. Lloris took off to his right but his dive was always in vain. This was vintage Mahrez, and a fourth goal in seven Premier League games from the Algerian.
His effortless first-touch throughout the game offered further evidence that he might be back somewhere near his best, killing the ball with a fizz of back-spin with the outside of his left boot as it fell from the sky. As his shot nestled into the back of the net Mahrez slid on his knees to bask in the applause and Pochettino, on the bench, dropped his head into his hands. Knowing all about Leicester’s main threats is not akin to nullifying them. Just as it wasn’t two years ago. Tottenham gathered momentum again and dominated secondhalf possession.
Kane fired wide in the secondhalf, simply unable to surrender, and Leicester set out to frustrate, break up the rhythms of the game and spring out on the break.
The game pulsated. Shinji Okazaki headed over from Albrighton’s cross and Schmeichel had to be alert and ready to leave his line to punch clear from Kane and collect crosses. Pochettino sent on more firepower in the shape of Son Heung-min and Fernando Llorente.
Erik Lamela came off the bench for his first appearance since October last year as a replacement for Christian Eriksen, who flickered without finding his best form.
Eriksen squandered a glorious chance before his exit when Llorente helped to fight down a cross by Son. Spurs finished with a four-man front line of Lamela, Kane, Llorente and Son with Alli coming from midfield. Lamela made an impression with the pass for Kane’s goal before Llorente skied a terrific chance to equalise and a penalty appeal for a foul on Rose by Ndidi was refused.
It was a spirited effort by the Londoners to salvage something but Leicester hung on.