Vardy havin’

Chelsea ........ 0 Leicester ........ 1 DRINKS ON JAMIE AFTER 18-YEAR WAIT FOR WIN AT THE BRIDGE

JAMIE VARDY started the party as Chelsea lost at home for the first time under Maurizio Sarri and Claude Puel earned some much-needed goodwill.

Not for the first time this season, Foxes boss Puel came into a game with huge question marks over his future.

But he can rest easy for a few days at least after his side beat Chelsea for the first time since the turn of the Millennium.

Chelsea dominated the visitors for 45 minutes and Puel spent most of the first half turning the air blue in frustration at his players.

Ironically, it was Vardy who copped it most with the Frenchman furious with one poor touch.

It was a different matter five minutes into the second half with Puel, arms outstretched,soaking up Leicester’s joy at the goal.

The former Southampton boss said: “In the first half we were a bit disappointed because we could have used the ball with more quality and composure and we wasted some good opportunities.

“But our togetherness and our work on the pitch was fantastic.

“We came back in the second half with better quality on the ball.

“It was a fantastic move for the goal and I was happy for Jamie to finish and be clinical.”

Asked if the goal justified his decision to leave Vardy out of the Carabao Cup defeat by Manchester City in midweek, Puel said: “I have nothing to justify.

“I am the manager of my team and try always to do my best to get the right balance to protect some players, get the best out of other players and put a team on the pitch with the ability to win the game.”

His side did have a couple of lucky escapes with Eden Hazard rattling Kasper Schmeichel’s bar before the break and Marcos Alonso hitting a post late on.

But they defended resolutely, especially before the break, and Chelsea could have few complaints about their defeat.

It was their third loss of the season – but all three have come within the last month and Sarri knows there is an issue.

He was so angry late on that he ripped off his coat and tossed it away.

“I was hot,” he said when asked about it. Under the collar?

“No,” he added. “We played very well for 55 minutes. We played very good football.

“After the goal, the reaction was a strange reaction. Not in the right direction. Not as a team. But as 11 different players. So it was really very strange.

“We could have done better in the reaction. We had only to continue to play as in the first part of the match.

“There was time to score but the reaction was as a team shocked, a team in mental confusion.”

A 70-yard ball from David Luiz caused chaos in the Leicester area with Schmeichel missing it under pressure from Willian and the Dane was delighted when it did not squeeze in for the opener.

Luiz then had a great chance from close range but could not get off the ground to head it.

Hazard took advantage of a poor touch from Harry Maguire but was denied by the woodwork, before Wilfred Ndidi forced a brilliant save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.

A sweet strike from Jorginho needed a good stop from Schmeichel and, after Leicester took the lead, their keeper made an even better save from Hazard.

Antonio Rudiger missed a great chance with his head late on and then, in stoppage time, Alonso somehow hit a post when through one-on-one with Schmeichel as Leicester held on.

Foxes left-back Ben Chilwell said: “This is 100 per cent our best result of the season.

“The result builds confidence. We know we have a brilliant squad, we know how good we are.”