Vardy denies hand in Ranieri sacking
JAMIE Vardy has joined Kasper Schmeichel in denying any involvement in Claudio Ranieri’s sacking as Leicester City boss.
Ranieri left the club on Thursday only nine months after guiding the Foxes to a remarkable Premier League triumph.
Vardy was one of the many rough diamonds Ranieri polished, with the striker’s form for Leicester earning him a place in the England team.
Writing on Instagram, Vardy said: “I must have written and deleted my words to this post a stupid amount of times! I owed [it to] Claudio to find the right and appropriate words!
“Claudio has and always will have my complete respect! What we achieved together and as a team was the impossible! He believed in m e when many didn’t and for that I owe him my eternal gratitude.
“There is speculation I was involved in his dismissal and this [is] completely untrue, unfounded and is extremely hurtful! The only thing we are guilty of as a team is underachieving which we all acknowledge both in the dressing room and publicly and will do our best to rectify.
“I wish Claudio the very very best in whatever the future holds for him. Thank you Claudio for everything.”
Leicester dropped into the relegation zone after victory for Crystal Palace against Middlesbrough. The Foxes play their first match since the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri against Liverpool tomorrow and will be in the bottom three.
Sam Allardyce has had a miserable start to life at Selhurst Park but a 34thminute goal from January signing Patrick van Aanholt earned Palace a crucial 1-0 victory over Boro.
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte praised his Chelsea players’ second-half response in their 3-1 win over Swansea which established an 11-point lead at the Premier League summit.
Cesc Fabregas scored on his 300th Premier League appearance, but Fernando Llorente equalised on the stroke of half-time against the run of play.
Pedro scored Chelsea’s second when his shot deceived Swansea’s goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and Diego Costa added a late third as Conte’s men won a 12th successive home game.
“It’s right for me to help them to be focused in every moment,” the Chelsea head coach said.
“We played first half really well and it was a pity to concede the goal at the end of the first half.
“I told them, ‘We are playing very well, we are dominating the game, we created some chances, but we stay 1-1. We don’t deserve this, but the reality is now we are 1-1. For this reason go in the second half and push, because we need to win’. They did this. Today I saw a lot of right answers from my players.”
Hull could also have leapfrogged Leicester and looked set to do so when Tom Huddlestone converted a 72ndminute penalty against Burnley.
But Michael Keane, whose handball gave away the spot-kick, made amends by making it 1-1 just four minutes later to earn Burnley only their second away point of the season.
Clarets striker Ashley Barnes was sent off late on for a second yellow card but Hull could not take advantage.
It was an unhappy return to Goodison Park for David Moyes, with a 2-0 defeat for bottom side Sunderland increasing their relegation worries.
Midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye scored his first goal for Everton in the 40th minute and Romelu Lukaku’s 18th of the season made the points safe 10 minutes from time.
West Brom came from behind to defeat Bournemouth 2-1. A foul on Ryan Fraser allowed Josh King to score from the spot inside five minutes but Craig Dawson’s deflected effort quickly drew the Baggies level and Gareth McAuley profited from Artur Boruc’s error to net what proved to be the winner in the 22nd minute.
Bournemouth have taken just one point from their last six games.