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Foster: I pulled my arms away and Vardy stuck out a leg to deliberately clip me.. he’s a master at winning penalties
Vardy Maddison
WATFORD keeper Ben Foster reckons speed demon Jamie Vardy pulled a fast one on him.
He was brassed off about that – then Vardy revealed he might just have done him a second time!
James Maddison scored a goal of sublime beauty to wrap up this win but the real gamechanging moment came when Foster sent Vardy tumbling in the box with 11 minutes gone.
The former England keeper chose his words carefully but it’s clear he felt he’d been mugged by a master trickster.
It certainly looked a clear penalty when Vardy raced onto Ben Chilwell’s defence-splitting pass and was then sent crashing. But the keeper saw it differently. Foster said: “I don’t think it was a penalty. Vardy is a master at that. I pulled my arms away but he stuck his leg out. He didn’t need to stick his leg out that far. He clipped me but he’s very good at winning those.
“In my defence I have tried to pull my arm away but he’s very good at that and he’s very quick so it all happens in a flash.”
Foster was then sent the wrong way from the spot – and Vardy revealed that wasn’t merely by chance either.
Vardy (celebrating, right, with Foxes pal Maddison) said: “The staff behind the scenes every week tell us which way the keeper has dived for the last 10 penalties.
“Their keeper has been alternate for every single penalty, except for the last two, where he’s gone to the right.
“So I took my chance and went to the keeper’s right, hoping he’ll go to the left and that’s exactly what happened.”
Clinical finishing was the difference between the two sides, Watford missing a number of chances to get themselves back JamieVardy ................ Raheem Sterling . . . . . . . . . . . WilfriedZaha ............... HarryKane .................. DeleAlli ..................... DavidSilva .................. Christian Benteke . . . . . . . . . . . EdenHazard ................ in it. Isaac Success really should have cashed in when he burst through Leicester’s defence but blasted the ball way over. And Andre Gray hit the post and also missed a couple of great chances after coming off the bench. Leicester, without a win since November 3, wrapped up the points with a belter of a goal from Maddison, a summer signing from Norwich. He started and finished it, with Vardy and then Marc Albrighton combining to pierce the Watford back line. Maddison said: “It’s right up there with the best I’ve ever scored. You know the quality you are going to get from Marc and he just put it right on my toe.”
Vardy reckons Maddison, a £24million arrival in June, is proving to be the perfect fit, adding: “Sometimes it’s a jump when you’ve been playing in the Championship and go to the Premier League, but he’s done it with ease.”
“You have to admire a finish like that. At least we get some time – about 30 seconds while he’s celebrating!” Watford will appeal the stoppage-time red-card given to Etienne Capoue for his block tackle on Kelechi Iheanacho.