Leicester 1-1 Spurs: Vardy-inspired fightback seals point for Foxes

Jamie Vardy, remember him? Tottenham Hotspur would prefer to forget but last night at the age of 37 he was back to bother them again.

No house party this time. No celebrations as there were on that night in 2016 when Tottenham’s title challenge was finally ended by Chelsea and handed the title to Claudio Ranieri’s 5,000/1 outsiders.

This time, it was just his ninth Premier League goal against Spurs on this occasion to transform what looked like being a comfortable away win into a fierce contest and ultimately an unlikely point for Leicester.

Vardy appeared unmarked at the back post to nod in a cross by Abdul Fatawu and almost grabbed a second to give his team the lead, 20 minutes from time.

He was foiled on that occasion by a fabulous Guglielmo Vicario save when clean through, before the closing stages of the game were disrupted by a long stoppage for treatment for Rodrigo Bentancur.

The Uruguayan midfielder who ruptured knee ligaments on his previous appearance at the King Power Stadium, suffered a head injury but was clearly conscious again before he was carried off.

It had been all Tottenham for almost an hour before until Vardy struck.

Ange Postecoglou’s team took the lead in the first half through Pedro Porro and James Maddison seemed to be enjoying himself, soothing the disappointment of his England rejection ahead of the Euros on familiar turf against his former club

The Londoners really ought to have scored more while on top but once they were level, the home crowd roared into life and their players responded.

Wilfred Ndidi forced Vicario into another fine save with a header in added time and substitute Richarlison headed the last chance of the game over from a free-kick.

Leicester bounced back to the Premier League at the first attempt, champions of the Championship although the mood approaching this fixture had been laced with trepidation, with a new manager limited by restraints on spending and a squad beset by injuries.

A night of commemoration for Craig Shakespeare added a poignant and subdued quality to the build-up before the night was electrified by the applause in tribute to the King Power legend who died earlier this month at the age of 60.

Shakespeare was assistant to Claudio Ranieri during that unforgettable 2015/16 season when they won the title and succeeded the Italian as Leicester reached the last eight of the Champions League.

Vardy, the last of the players in the dressing room from those glorious times, was also declared fit to start up front in Steve Cooper’s first game in charge, which by chance was against the North London club that ended his reign as Nottingham Forest boss at the City Ground in December.

Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevksi, the Spurs scorers in a 2-0 win that day, were on the bench as Postecoglou started with new record signing Solanke up front, flanked by Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson.

The visitors set off with pace and purpose, dominating midfield, zipping passes forward, squeezing up the pitch and forcing Leicester to retreat as they created and failed to convert early chances from a series of corners.

Ndidi was on hand to hook clear a near-post header by Rodrigo Bentancur and goalkeeper Mads Hermansen saved a sweet Brennan Johnson volley before Cristian Romero and Solanke both headed wide from Porro crosses.

Maddison, greeted with a mixed reception on his first return, flickered into life and became more influential as the first half unfolded, looking to penetrate the massed ranks of blue shirts in the Leicester penalty box with disguised passes.

The home crowd delighted when one attempt ended in undignified fashion, with the England international dumped onto his backside near a corner flag, but he was back on his feet conjure the opener for Porro, who darted forward from right back and glanced a header past Hermansen in the 29th minute.

The first half became a complete domination. Played almost entirely in one half of the pitch, the spontaneous applause which greeted the half time whistle told of their relief at making it through the sanctuary of the interval without greater damage.

Leicester’s only effort at goal was a speculative one from debutant Bobby de Cordova-Reid after Vicario ventured from his penalty area to head clear. It ended up closer to the corner flag than the open goal.

 Cooper resisted the urge to make a change during the interval and although the contest continued in the same pattern and Hermansen was required to make saves from Solanke and Bentancur, but his team began to threaten on the break.

Pape Matar Sarr chased back to foil one led by De Cordova-Reid but Leicester took heart and levelled when a left-wing cross by Victor Kristiansen was picked up by Fatawu and clipped deep towards Vardy who found the net with a header from close range.

Cue pandemonium and a chaotic finale.