Evergreen Vardy is still Fantastic Mr Fox in box
Leicester Vardy 41 1 Wolves 0
IN the week Brendan Rodgers said Leicester had to rely equally on all three of their strikers, Jamie Vardy let his boss know that he is still top dog in these parts.
Vardy turns 35 in January and Rodgers plans to share the load between his talisman, Kelechi Iheanacho and £27million signing Patson Daka over the course of the campaign — only for Vardy to prove that he will take some shifting.
Vardy’s instinctive 41st-minute strike was enough to give Leicester an opening-day win over Wolves — whose flying winger Adama Traore missed two great chances — and showed he had lost none of his sharpness.
After scoring, Vardy goaded the Wolves fans and pointed at the name on the back of shirt. The gesture would have been just as effective as a message to Rodgers about what the striker hierarchy really is at the King Power Stadium.
‘If you look at some other clubs and what they’re spending, we’re nowhere near that level,’ said Rodgers. ‘I just hope we can keep developing. If we can progress again this year I’ll be happy and we’ll see where that takes us.
‘Jamie and I had a good chat during pre-season and it is up to us to make him as explosive as we can. When he’s fit, in form and hungry he is so difficult to play against and I am delighted he is here.’
Back in front of a full house for the first time since March 2020, the FA Cup holders were impressive in the first half but patchy in the second, when they would have been punished by a more ruthless team.
Rodgers insists he needs more players yet it is his opposite number, new Wolves boss Bruno Lage, whose need is greater.
Lage succeeded Nuno Espirito Santo in the summer and his side had their moments, with Traore, Max Kilman and substitute Morgan Gibbs-White all going close as Leicester wobbled in the later stages. Yet with three untested players on the bench, it is no surprise that Lage wants up to four signings before the transfer window closes.
Raul Jimenez was included in the Wolves starting XI for a competitive match for the first time in nine months — a wonderful sight given the fractured skull he suffered at Arsenal nine months ago, which placed his top-level career in doubt.
Leicester made the running in the first half, however. In the 10th minute, Vardy’s angled shot was saved by Wolves’ new goalkeeper Jose Sa, and five minutes later Vardy had the ball in the net only to be correctly flagged offside.
In the 41st minute, Ricardo Pereira fizzed the ball to the near post where Vardy had drifted in front of Conor Coady to guide it beyond Sa with the outside of his left foot — the finish of a master. Leicester could have made it two in first-half stoppage time when Youri Tielemans’ 30-yard strike drew a solid save from Sa.
Wolves’ loan capture from Barcelona Francisco Trincao did little in the first half but after a Leicester move broke down, he swapped passes with Ruben Neves and Caglar Soyuncu had to block.
In the second half, Traore barged substitute Jannik Vestergaard, on for his debut after a £15m move from Southampton last week, away from a bouncing ball before guiding his volley too close to Kasper Schmeichel.
In the closing minutes, Wolves defender Kilman twice went close, first with a shot that was superbly blocked by Daniel Amartey and then a free header that he directed too close to Schmeichel.
‘Adama is a top player, a top man,’ said Lage. He wants to improve and we’ll work together to do that. We deserved more than we got from this game but I have confidence in what we are doing.’