CARELESS SPURS UNLEASH FIERY FOXES
FIRsT law of the jungle, aggravate Jamie Vardy at your peril. second, watch your back and do not under any circumstances invite Riyad Mahrez to take aim with his left foot. Tottenham failed to obey either and so unleashed one of those hyperactive performances from leicester which took the nation by storm two years ago. Vardy proved a persistent menace up front and Mahrez was silky smooth out wide. spurs were two down by half-time and still refused to give up, which made for thrilling entertainment. leicester turned back time and secured their first home victory over Tottenham since leaving Filbert street in 2002 and continued their improvement under new boss Claude Puel. For Mauricio Pochettino, this was another disappointment after away defeats at Manchester United and Arsenal and a draw at home against West Brom. And another setback for his hopes of making the top four for the third year in a row. The Foxes made good early progress down their left flank and this was the route of attack for the opening goal on 13 minutes. harry Maguire found Marc Albrighton out wide and he clipped a pass into space. Vardy sped on to it and, as the ball dropped over his shoulder, met it with a right-footed volley which lobbed with precision over a despairing hugo lloris. spurs pressed hard for an equaliser but were punished on the counter-attack in stoppagetime before the interval. Cutting inside from the right and gliding past Jan Vertonghen along the 18-yard line, Mahrez took aim and shaped a brilliant curling shot inside the far post. lloris took off to his right but his dive was always in vain. This was vintage Mahrez and a fourth goal in seven Premier league games for the Algerian. Tottenham dominated second-half possession and erik lamela came off the bench for his first appearance since October last year as a replacement for Christian eriksen, who flickered without finding his best form. All the visitors had to show for their efforts was harry Kane’s 79th-minute counter and leicester hung on for all three points.