Leicester City won their first game after the sacking of Premier League winning manager Claudio Ranieri, outclassing Liverpool to win 3-1 at the King Power stadium on Monday.
Striker Jamie Vardy, who has looked a pale shadow of the player who scored 24 goals last season, found his scoring boots and netted a brace. Midfielder Danny Drinkwater also put his name on the scoresheet with a cracking long-range effort, which may well find its place in the goal of the season nominations.
Liverpool launched a spirited late fightback after their attackers went missing for much of the contest and pulled one back through a well-taken goal from Phillipe Coutinho. Leicester City, though, were more motivated, and certainly more clinical in front of goal.
For the first goal, Vardy expertly got past Liverpool’s high-line, and struck the ball cleanly past keeper Simon Mignolet at the near post. Marc Albrighton’s through ball from his own half to find Vardy was a treat.
Drinkwater’s goal also came in the first half, pouncing on a lose ball from 25 yards out. The swerve and the dip on the shot made it impossible for Mignolet to get his hands to it. The third goal came from a header by Vardy in the second half to put his side 3-0 up.
Emotions were running high in the stands, with a massive outpour of home support echoing around the stadium towards their former manager. Coutinho’s goal failed to rejuvenate Liverpool’s bid to stage a comeback, and it was the home side who came close to extending their lead at regular intervals. Vardy may have well ended with a hat-trick to his name had he showed a little bit more finesse with his finishing on a couple of occasions at the goalmouth.
With this win, the Foxes leaped out of the drop zone and moved to 15th in the table. Liverpool stayed at fifth with a one-point lead over Manchester United, who have a game in hand on Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Brief scores:
- Leicester City 3 (Jamie Vardy x 2, Danny Drinkwater) beat Liverpool 1 (Phillipe Coutinho)