Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IN THE FOX SEAT
Leicester fly into second spot in the table as Vardy makes two and scores
BRENDAN RODGERS is going to struggle to play down expectations if Leicester keep delivering results like this.
Rodgers insists Leicester cannot be classed in the top-six bracket yet because of the quality of the Premier League’s big boys.
But after sealing a fifth win in their opening seven top-f light games – for the first time in their history – they are surely not far off it.
There seems to be a real hunger among Rodgers’ players this term to challenge for a Champions League place after they agonisingly fell just short last season.
They are the Premier League’s road warriors – this win made it four away wins out of four.
The Foxes, up to second in the Premier League now, finally won away on a Monday for the first time at the 13th attempt.
They did a real number on Leeds, soaking up all their possession to hit them on the break. But they were helped by some shocking defending by the home side.
Patrick Bamford was the first Leeds player since Eric Cantona in 1992 to score six goals in his first s i x P re mi e r League games – and he should have made it seven in the opening seconds.
Jack Harrison nodded back Helder Costa’s cross to serve up a glorious chance on a plate, but Bamford headed straight at Foxes keeper Kasper Schmeichel from five yards out. To rub salt into the wounds, Leicester broke down the left to open the scoring with just one minute and 59 seconds on the clock.
Jamie Vardy pounced on Robin Koch’s loose pass back towards Illan Meslier and t e e d u p Ha r v e y Barnes to score.
Leeds were a s h a mbl e s a t the back, despite skipper Liam Cooper returning from a month out with a groin injury, and Barnes could have had a hat-trick.
He broke through on the left and only a heavy touch allowed Meslier to save at his feet before Leeds’ French goalkeeper stopped his shot from Vardy’s lay-off.
Leeds’ passing was sloppy and Leicester turned over possession to score a second on 21 minutes. Marc
Albrighton broke down the right and crossed for Vardy to connect with a stooping header, which Meslier could only parry for Youri Tielemans to finish from close range.
Bamford seemed affected by his early miss and his first touch let him down when Luke Ayling played him through the middle with a defence-splitting pass, allowing Schmeichel to make the save.
Leeds needed to improve in the second half and they did to score within three minutes of the restart.
Wesley Fofana and Christian Fuchs got in each other’s way, trying to deal with Stuart Dallas’ cross, and the ball evaded everyone to sneak in at the back post.
Suddenly Leeds were transformed and old-stager Pablo Hernandez was denied an equaliser when he created space for himself just outside the box and curled a brilliant right-foot effort against the face of the bar. Ayling dived in the box in a vain attempt to win a penalty as Leeds became more desperate and Leicester settled the contest when Vardy scored his seventh Premier League goal this season, all away from home, on 76 minutes.
It was his 17th goal in his last 16 Premier League away games
Leicester played the ball out f rom Schmeichel and James Maddison fed it to Cengiz Under, who clipped a lovely pass for Vardy to slot home. After Vardy was taken off, Tielemans made it 4-1 from the penalty spot after Mateusz Klich had brought down Maddison.