JAMIE VARDY may be leaving Leicester City at the end of the season – but that has not stopped him from lining up yet another landmark piece of Foxes history.
Trust Vardy to grab a slice of the action – in more ways than one – as he turned from goalscorer to whistleblower.
GettyJamie Vardy opened the scoring in the match[/caption]
ReutersJordan Ayew doubled the lead before half-time[/caption]
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side may be heading back to the Championship, but Vardy scored the first Premier League goal seen at the King Power Stadium since December.
And that puts him one away from the 200-milestone for the club since joining from Fleetwood Town in 2012.
He put Leicester ahead after 17 minutes after great work on the left by Bilal El Khannouss. His cross found Vardy who lashed the ball home with his left foot.
It ended a run of nine home games without a goal – the last time was on December 8 against Brighton.
Foxes fans then sang ‘We’ve scored a goal’.
But Vardy also found time to raise another laugh among Leicester supporters.
When ref David Webb went down injured after colliding with Leicester’s Jordan Ayew, Vardy reached down and blew the official’s whistle to stop the game.
It then became obvious that Webb – making his debut as a Premier League ref – was unable to carry on and a 12-minute delay followed while a replacement fourth official was found.
When the game resumed, Leicester increased their lead when Jordan Ayew found the net.
Ayew’s free-kick from 20 yards hit the wall, but he cleared the path for another attempt and drilled home the rebound from the edge of the area.
But rock bottom Southampton still cannot get to that magic 12 point mark that would keep them out of the record books.
Their 11-point tally means that they are still on course for a share of having the worst ever Premier League return – an unwanted mention they currently share with Derby County.
Saints rarely looked like pulling back Leicester’s lead and their fans turned on interim boss Simon Rusk in the second half.
Rusk took off Matty Fernandes just before the hour – minutes after he had had a goal ruled out for offside.
The travelling fans chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and sang Fernandes’ name for the remainder of the game.
Anyone who thought this game was the deadest of dead rubbers – with both teams relegated was made to think again.
Although Southampton showed why they are going down in a game they might have been expected to take something from.
Off the field, Leicester fans made their views known in numbers.
A banner aimed at the owner Top Srivaddhanaprabha and Director of Football, Jon Rudkin, read: ‘Top, Rudkin, what’s so funny’.
However, because the club were showing the broadcaster’s feed on the big screen, it was magnified in front of the entire stadium before the pictures were taken down.
There were also chants of ‘sack the board’ – but they disappeared once Vardy had scored.
Vardy was given a standing ovation as he left the field – and will now aim for his history-making goal at East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest next weekend.
GettyReferee David Webb was forced off[/caption]
GettyVardy was quick to act to help the official[/caption]
GettySouthampton remain stuck on 11 points[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
