Leicester v Tottenham LIVE: Premier League result and reaction after Vardy secures draw as Bentancur injured
Leicester 1-1 Tottenham: The veteran striker popped up in the second half to secure the hosts a point
Jamie Vardy marked Leicester’s return to the Premier League with a goal as the hosts secured an unlikely point against Tottenham Hotspur.
Captain Vardy had not been expected to feature in the opening fixture of his side’s top-flight comeback having missed most of the preseason due to injury, but was deemed fit enough to start with Steve Cooper lacking in alternative forward options. And it had to be him to produce a magic moment: Spurs had dominated the entirety of the contest unti the veteran striker headed home a second half equaliser totally against the run of play, Vardy directing Abdul Fatawu’s cross into the corner to secure a 1-1 draw.
Tottenham had appeared to have been cruising to an opening weekend win after Pedro Porro capitalised on their sustained pressure with a flicked first-half finish. With James Maddison sparkling on his return to his former club, the floodgates appeared likely to open thereafter, but a series of squandered chances from new recruit Dominic Solanke and the rest of the Spurs’ forward line left Leicester in touch, allowing Vardy to pop up and spark a King Power Stadium party again.
There was a worrying moment late on as Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur appeared to be knocked out in a clash of heads. After several minutes of treatment, the Uruguayan was sitting up and talking in the Tottenham dressing room after being carried off on a stretcher, and will continue to be monitored in line with concussion protocols.
Re-live all the action from the King Power Stadium below:
Leicester 0-1 Tottenham, 41 minutes
Harry Winks overhits a diagonal dead ball, his free kick floaty and enveloped by Guglielmo Vicario in relative comfort. Jannik Vestergaard gives the goalkeeper a little nudge, frustrated not to have been found by his teammate.
Leicester 0-1 Tottenham, 38 minutes
Spurs’ midfield has functioned well so far. It might have been that Yves Bissouma would have been part of their defensive two if not for his off-field misdemeanours, but Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Sarr have offered good balance, both able to get forward and show passing range while maintaining their defensive discipline.
Leicester 0-1 Tottenham, 36 minutes
A half-chance for Bobby Decordova-Reid, latching on to a bouncing ball after Guglielmo Vicario had salmoned a header away some way off his line. The goal is left vacant as the Italian goalkeeper sprawls to the floor, but the Leicester forward can’t find it, slicing his effort closer to the corner.
Leicester 0-1 Tottenham, 35 minutes
Leicester can’t afford to simply fold here. They will have a bright period at some point, but a second or third Spurs goal before half time would surely leave them too much to do.
Leicester 0-1 Tottenham, 32 minutes
James Maddison has been outstanding so far. He’s looked at it from the word go against his former club, favouring the left and causing old colleagues all manner of problems. He very nearly creates a second soon after Pedro Porro’s opener, clipping to Brennan Johnson as the forward is left vacant at the far stick - and though the ball is dropping, Johnson might have liked to have hit his volleyed finish rather better.
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 TOTTENHAM (Pedro Porro, 29 minutes)
But finally Tottenham have their goal!
To say it has been coming would be to understate Spurs’ command and class in this first 30 minutes. James Maddison is the architect, sketching from a withdrawn position on the inside left, and Pedro Porro follows the job through, the marauding right-back’s connection off his shoulder perhaps not as planned but good enough to ensure a devilish delivery ends up buried in the bottom corne.
Leicester 0-0 Tottenham, 26 minutes
The rain appears to have relented a touch, Victor Kristiansen’s blonde curtains drawn back towards the finials on either side of his forehead. The left-back is doing a decent enough job of combatting Brennan Johnson, but James Justin is struggling rather more with Heung-min Son and James Maddison on the opposite side.
Leicester 0-0 Tottenham, 22 minutes
Neat feet from Facundo Buonanotte, pivoting past a couple of Tottenham midfielders. His work thereafter is rather less tidy, scudding a pass out of play with Bobby Decordova-Reid unable to retrieve it.
Still, that little glimpse from the Brighton loanee will please Steve Cooper, who hasn’t had much to get excited about so far.
Leicester 0-0 Tottenham, 20 minutes
Dominic Solanke goes down under contact from Jannik Vestergaard and immediately swings his head in the direction of referee Chris Kavanagh, who wags a disapproving finger at the striker’s appeal. Vestergaard hadn’t managed to take a piece of the ball but VAR clears his challenge quickly, agreeing with the on-field official’s call without need for further investigation.
Leicester 0-0 Tottenham, 18 minutes
The respite is, as expected, temporary, and Brennan Johnson soon gives the big boys at the back reason to bundle into the box, winning a corner down the right. It’s half-cleared to Heung-min Son, who earns another set piece with a deflected drive.
Seven corners, so far, for the visitors. Son rather wastes the next of them after it has been played short.
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