Vardy’s double helps Foxes to savage Canaries

JAMIE Vardy’s double helped ease Leicester past relegated Norwich.

The striker’s second-half brace and James Maddison’s goal lifted the Foxes to 10th in the Premier League with a 3-0 win.

Victory against the rock-bottom Canaries ended a seven-game winless run but the hosts barely needed to get out of second gear.

Dean Smith’s side slipped to a 12th defeat in 14 games and are just playing out time before their return to the Championship.

But it was the Canaries who should have gone in at the break ahead when, in first-half injury time, Teemu Pukki twisted Daniel Amartey to leave the defender on the deck and had just Kasper Schmeichel to beat but slammed his shot against the near post.

It proved a costly miss for Norwich as Leicester grabbed a quickfire double to race 2-0 ahead.

They found the opener nine minutes after the break when Harvey Barnes sent Vardy dashing down the left and he cut inside with Grant Hanley for company.

The Scotland international tried to delay the striker but was left helpless as Vardy’s shot hit his standing foot to loop over the stranded Gunn.

Eight minutes later Vardy doubled the lead when he again combined with Barnes to lash in his 14th goal of the season from 10 yards.

Leicester were in cruise control and made it 3-0 with 20 minutes left as the Foxes were given plenty of time around the Norwich box and when Angus Gunn parried Kieran DewsburyHall’s cross Maddison, who moved from Carrow Road in 2018, lashed in the loose ball.