Penalty pain for Puel

CLAUDE PUEL took the blame for Jamie Vardy’s penalty howler as Leicester slumped to a fourth defeat in five league games.

Vardy came off the bench to miss a spot-kick with his very first touch as Tottenham won with goals from Davinson Sanchez, Christian Eriksen and Heung-min Son.

But Foxes boss Puel (right) claimed it was his decision to let Vardy take the penalty which proved to be the turning point.

He said: “Normally it’s Jamie to take the penalty. I gave him the opportunity to shoot this penalty. I said to him he can take it. But it’s not just the penalty, it’s all the game. We had the opportunities to lead this game or to get back into it. We had a lot of chances.”

Vardy’s penalty was saved by Hugo Lloris with the score at 1-0 to Spurs after James Maddison was fouled by Jan Vertonghen.

Maddison initially stepped up to take it but handed the ball to the former England striker as soon as he came on.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, whose side remain five points behind top two Manchester City and Liverpool, hailed Lloris for saving their bacon. He said: “We

Turn to Page 3