‘Phenomenal’ centurion Vardy keeps Foxes in third as slick Chelsea maintain pressure
LEICESTER boss
Brendan Rodgers hailed the ‘phenomenal achievement’ of Jamie Vardy after the striker scored his 100th Premier League goal.
Vardy, stuck on 99 goals since his double in a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa in the final match before the lockdown, netted Leicester’s second and third in a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace after Kelechi Iheanacho had opened the scoring.
The former Fleetwood striker, who became the first £1million signing from a non-league club when he joined the Foxes in the summer of 2012, reached the milestone in his 206th game.
It was his first goal against the Eagles that created history and Vardy becomes one of 29 Premier League centurions.
‘It’s a phenomenal achievement to come into the Premier League at such a late stage and be so prolific in such a short space of time. It’s a privilege to work with such a top striker,’ said Rodgers.
‘His story is unique when you think about what he has achieved and what he has done. His story, and continuous story, will always be an inspiration. ‘It’s been hard for him recently as he hasn’t had too many chances and I had a chat with him yesterday. His work-rate is incredible and he never gives defenders a minute’s peace and chases down lost causes and we saw that again today.
‘I’m very fortunate that he’s here, but it was a real collective effort today.” Vardy himself told Sky Sports he was ‘over the moon’ with the achievement.
More importantly for Leicester, the much
needed win kept them third in the Premier League table after pressure had been building with resurgent Manchester United and Chelsea having significantly narrowed the gap in recent weeks. Olivier Giroud, Willian and Ross Barkley struck to sink Watford 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and limit Chelsea’s fall from the Premier League’s top four to less than five hours.
France’s World Cupwinning striker Giroud angled a fine effort for his third goal in five Premier League games, with the 33-year-old showing renewed sharpness.
Brazil forward Willian tucked away another nerveless penalty: his third in as many league matches, after his spotkicks in the 2-1 win over Manchester City and Wednesday’s 3-2 loss at West Ham.
Former Everton midfielder Barkley then capped another industrious performance with a smart strike in stoppage time.
Chelsea’s demoralising midweek defeat by the Hammers, coupled with Manchester United thrashing Bournemouth 5-2 on Saturday afternoon had seen the Blues drop out of the league’s top four for the first time since October.
But Frank Lampard’s men jumped straight back above United to reclaim fourth spot, with a commanding night victory in west London.