Vardy's hat-trick condemns City


A Jamie Vardy hat-trick gave champions Leicester a stunning 4-2 win over Manchester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

 Leicester, who hadn't won in the league in five games, raced into a 3-0 lead in just 20 minutes in a first half to forget for Pep Guardiola's side, as Vardy netted either side of Andy King's effort from the edge of the area.

 Vardy got his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining, scoring from an acute angle on the right byline after latching onto John Stones' poor backpass.

 Aleksandar Kolarov and Nolito scored late on for City, who have taken just 12 points from a possible 27 in the league.

 The result means City are four points off leaders Arsenal, and could be seven behind Chelsea if they beat West Brom at midday on Sunday.

 Guardiola made four changes from the side that lost 3-1 against Chelsea last week, bringing in Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Fernando and Kelechi Iheanacho, with Sergio Aguero, Nicolas Otamendi and Fernandinho suspended.

 City were caught out early on as Islam Slimani played Vardy through on goal after a long ball forward, and the England striker found the bottom left corner past Claudio Bravo for his first goal in 16 matches.

 Leicester were 2-0 up within five minutes through King, who beat Bravo into the top left corner from the edge of the area, though the Chilean goalkeeper could have done better after getting a palm on the effort.

 Leicester could have been 3-0 up on 13 minutes, but Slimani couldn't keep his effort from six yards down after Robert Huth had nodded the ball on unmarked.

 However, they did get their third seven minutes later. After referee Michael Oliver had diverted Kolarov's pass into the path of Christian Fuchs, the Austrian's long ball forward reached Riyad Mahrez, whose superb touch into the area found Vardy running through on goal. With City defenders on the back foot, Vardy rounded Bravo and finished into the empty net.

 Mahrez nearly made it four himself minutes later, but Bravo this time beat the ball away to his right after the Algerian's fizzing effort towards the corner.

 The visitors pressed intensely for the rest of the half, earning seven corners in total, but Kolarov could not head into the net after Fernando had flicked on Kevin De Bruyne's set piece from the left.

 Slimani went close in first-half stoppage time, miscuing his header to divert the ball wide unmarked from Marc Albrighton's right-wing cross.

 City continued to dominate possession after the break but with no cutting edge, as Zabaleta and De Bruyne both saw goal-bound efforts blocked, before Ilkay Gundogan struck inches wide from the edge of the box before the hour mark.

 Vardy got his hat-trick on 78 minutes, capitalising on Stones' weak backpass for Bravo by rounding the goalkeeper and netting from an impossibly acute angle on the right byline. The ball rolled off the far post, but the goal-line technology gave the goal as Sagna failed to clear in time.

 Kolarov's superb free-kick from 20 yards gave the travelling fans something to smile about, before substitute Nolito scored in the 90th minute with a near post finish from Kolarov's cross.

 It wasn't enough to create a nervy finish as Leicester, who registered just 22 per cent possession in the game, claimed a vital win.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chelsea sign Bakayoko from Monaco for £40M

Image
Tiemoue Bakayoko has joined Chelsea from Monaco and become the club's second-most expensive signing of all time. Sky Sports News HQ understands the 22-year-old has cost the Blues £40m - some £10m less than Fernando Torres in 2011. Bakayoko, an athletic central midfielder, has signed a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge and will join up with France international team-mate N'Golo Kante. Bakayoko said: "I have grown up watching Chelsea. Signing was the natural thing for me because it is a club I loved very much in my childhood. "I am now looking forward to evolving under this fantastic coach (Antonio Conte) and alongside so many great team-mates." Chelsea's technical director Michael Emenalo said: "Tiemoue was outstanding as Monaco emerged as one of Europe's best sides last season and we are delighted to welcome him to Chelsea. "Despite his young age he already has plenty of experience as a French title winner and having competed ...
Read more

Jose Gimenez's goal secured a late win for Uruguay against Egypt

Image
It’s another exciting atmosphere in Russia as Egypt take on Uruguay in a group A encounter. Uruguay dominated possession in the first 3 minutes of the opening stage of the first half. Caceres was put under pressure defensively but can’t keep the ball in play after tackle, though it shows Egypt are doing everything within their reach to limit the time Uruguay have on the ball. Egypt are starting to to enjoy the game after the early pressure from the Uruguay. Cavani look threatening to the Egypt defense with the first attempt of the game, firing a low shot from outside the box that El – Shenawy managed to keep out comfortably. Egypt have done great defensively as they’ve kept Uruguay silent and finding thir rhythm in attack. Egypt with their first attempt of the game as trezeguet forced Muslera into action for the first time. He chests the ball down to create some chance in the box but couldn’t get contact with the ball properly. Egypt are looking more dangerous on th...
Read more

Ronaldo on a rare run of goals and assists for Juventus

Image
The Portuguese star is on a rare run of getting goals and assists, after pulling it off against Parma, Sassuolo and Frosinone Cristiano Ronaldo proved his importance to Juventus once again as he scored and assisted in a match for the third time in a row on Friday. The 34-year-old helped fire the Serie A leaders to a 3-0 win over Frosinone when he set Paulo Dybala up for the opening goal and then netted his side's third in the second half. Having also notched goals and assists against Parma and Sassuolo in the previous two league games, he is on a rare run of form of playing the dual role of scorer and provider for the defending champions. It is the second time in the 33-year-old's career that he has scored and set up goals in three games in a row. The last time he put such run together was in November 2014, when he was still with Real Madrid. Ronaldo's 19th goal extends his lead at the top of the Serie A goal chart, while he now has made the joint-most ass...
Read more