Vardy spot-kick blunder leaves Foxes facing battle

JAMIE VARDY missed a secondhalf penalty as Leicester were held to a draw by Spartak Moscow that put a dent in their hopes of topping their Europa League group. Five minutes after replacing Patson Daka — who scored all four goals when Leicester beat Spartak 4-3 in Russia a fortnight ago — Vardy was presented with the chance to become his side’s record European scorer but saw his spot-kick saved. Former Chelsea player Victor Moses had put Spartak ahead early in the second half, with Daniel Amartey equalising for the Foxes moments later. But this was a disappointing result for the home side, with the prize for finishing first in Group C a place in the last 16 with no need to go through the play-off phase. Leicester stay third, with a home game against Legia Warsaw and a trip to Napoli to come. They did come desperately close to taking the lead in the 18th minute when Boubakary Soumare’s ferocious first-time strike from 25 yards bounced back off the underside of the bar. Then four minutes before the break, Kelechi Iheanacho tricked his way into a shooting position yet, as he was about to pull the trigger, Daka tried to do the same and the chance was lost. Between those incidents, Spartak found it easy to keep Leicester at arm’s length. Spartak coach Rui Vitoria matched Brendan Rodgers’ 3-4-1-2 to sit deep. And the plan was looking even better six minutes after the interval when they took the lead. Mikhail Ignatov escaped on the right and crossed for Moses, who ran untracked between Jonny Evans and Amartey to head past Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester levelled within seven minutes as Ayoze Perez flicked on Ryan Bertrand’s corner and Amartey headed home. The Foxes looked like winning when Moses tugged back Ademola Lookman only for Vardy to put his kick too close to Aleksandr Selikhov, who made an easy save, and frustration grew when another sub, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, headed Timothy Castagne’s cross against Iheanacho, who hit the rebound against the outside of the post.