Cool for Claudio as Vardy ends dry spell
Foxes and their star striker are back to winning ways
CLAUDIO RANIEIRI called it. Prematch, the Leicester City manager was asked if opposing defences had figured Jamie Vardy out after last season’s 24-goal top scorer failed to find the net in the first two matches of this campaign.
‘I am not worried’ the Italian said, ‘he is a natural goalscorer’. He was not wrong. On 32 minutes, with thunder raging around the King Power Stadium, Vardy struck for the first time in 2016-17.
It was the type of goal you will have seen him score before and will no doubt see him score again. Danny Drinkwater, clearly not weighed down by the new £90,000-a-week contract in his back pocket, was the architect.
The midfielder spotted Vardy on the shoulder of Jordi Amat. With one swing of his right boot Drinkwater volleyed a precise ball over the top and it was on. Vardy’s first touch brought it into his path and with Amat failing to close the gap, his second crashed the ball home off Lukasz Fabianski’s near post.
‘The goalscorer always scores goals,’ a suddenly drenched but always dry Ranieri said, after Vardy’s effort set his side on their way to a 2-1 win that was not as close as the scoreline suggests.
‘Some season a little more, some season a little less but never, never the goalscorer forget the way. It’s important to score a goal for strikers because it gives life to their day.’
The win, which would have been more comfortable had Riyad Mahrez not seen his penalty saved by Fabianski, was the Foxes first of the season and Ranieri’s 100th in the Premier League.
‘It was tough,’ the former Chelsea boss added. ‘The rain was unbelievable. It was water polo. Three points is good. I am very happy. I hope to make another hundred.’
Ranieri’s day was only darkened by Mahrez’s miss and the secondhalf departure of Kasper Schmeichel. The manager said he would think about whether stripping penalty duties from his winger but revealed the Danish keeper had been struggling with a small hernia issue and was already pencilled in for an operation on Monday.
‘It was always in the programme,’ he said. ‘He will be back for the next match.’
Wes Morgan doubled the lead following the break. The Leicester skipper could only head Marc Albrighton’s corner into Federico Fernandez but when the ball ricocheted off his opponent the centrehalf hit a sweet right-foot volley into the centre of the goal.
Then came the penalty miss and more thunder, with one particularly powerful blast sending the lights out in the main stand, prompting dozens of home supporters to switch their mobile phone torches on.
It sparked a rare flash of inspiration from the Welsh side when Modou Barrow lifted a teasing cross into the area for Leroy Fer to powerfully head into the bottom corner.
A watersplash last 10 minutes saw little action of note as the visitors, without record signing Borja Baston, pressed for an unlikely point.
It would appear to be troubling times for Swansea, who have now lost their last two after their opening day win at Burnley. They had their moments and although it is early, this is looking like it could be a season of regression rather than progression in south Wales.
Francesco Guidolin preferred to salute their hosts than concentrate on shortcomings. ‘I think the result is right because Leicester played well,’ he said. ‘They were strong like last season. I saw a team play good football. I congratulated Claudio.
‘At the end, we had the possibility to draw but I think Leicester deserved to win.’
The Italian added that the 59thminute withdrawal of Gylfi Sigurdsson was for tactical reasons and in, a statement that may worry Swans fans, added that he expected little activity before the closure of the transfer window other than the arrival of young Barnsley defender Alfie Mawson. ‘I am happy with my group,’ he said.
Ranieri, meanwhile, is a master of understatement and of managing expectations. He had said it was not the end of the world if his side did not pick up their first win of the season here. However, with Champions League football awaiting in a stacked September that features clashes with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, he will be a happy man to see Leicester break their winning duck in weather fit for them.