Vardy has a party at Etihad as Leicester hammer City
A Jamie Vardy hat-trick and a superb James Maddison goal steered Leicester City to a stunning 5-2 win at Manchester City on Sunday and kept them top of the Premier League with a maximum nine points from three games.
City looked to be in cruise control after a sublime volley from Riyad Mahrez against his former club gave the home side a fourth-minute lead, as they dominated the first half until Vardy equalised with the first of two penalties.
The striker drove his spot-kick into the top right corner in the 37th minute after he was fouled by Kyle Walker and then turned the match on its head in the 54th, beating goalkeeper Ederson at the near post with a deft touch.
Vardy completed his hat-trick four minutes later with a second penalty, drilling his shot into the bottom-left corner this time after Eric Garcia had hauled him down inside the area.
Substitute Maddison made it 4-1 when he curled a brilliant shot from 20 metres into the top left corner before centre back Nathan Ake pulled one back for City with a header from a corner.
With Vardy limping off with a hamstring strain in the closing stages, Youri Tielemans converted Leicester’s third penalty of the match in the 88th minute to put the icing on the cake for the visitors.
The outcome snapped City’s 11-match unbeaten home run in the league dating back to last season and it was also their first defeat in their opening top-flight home game since a 2-1 loss to Southampton in 1989.
It was the first time City had conceded five goals in a home league game since 2003 against Arsenal—a devastating setback after their win at Wolves in their Premier League opener last Monday.
Suarez scores twice
Luis Suarez had a stunning impact on his debut for Atletico Madrid following his move from Barcelona, scoring twice and providing an assist as his side crushed Granada 6-1 at home in their first game of the La Liga season on Sunday. Suarez, who only completed his switch from Barca on Friday, started on the bench and came on midway through the second half with his side already three goals up thanks to strikes from Diego Costa, Angel Correa and Joao Felix.
Messi back among goals
Lionel Messi was back in scoring business for Barcelona on Sunday, leading them to a resounding 4-0 win at home against Villarreal in a near-perfect La Liga opener for the Catalans under new coach Ronald Koeman. Teenage forward Ansu Fati was in inspirational form for Barca, combining with Jordi Alba to side-foot home first time into the net in the 15th minute and then striking again four minutes later with another icecool finish.
Pellegrini’s VAR lament
The combination of Real Madrid and VAR was too much for Real Betis to contend with in Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat, coach Manuel Pellegrini said. Betis overcame an early goal to take a 2-1 lead over Madrid at half-time. But three interventions went the way of the champions after the interval, leading to Madrid drawing level, Betis having defender Emerson sent off and the visitors winning a late penalty which Sergio Ramos converted to win the match.