{"id":294687,"date":"2023-10-01T15:24:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T15:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=294687"},"modified":"2023-10-01T15:24:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T15:24:42","slug":"blackburn-1-4-leicester-jamie-vardy-fires-foxes-championship-top-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/blackburn-1-4-leicester-jamie-vardy-fires-foxes-championship-top-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackburn 1-4 Leicester: Jamie Vardy fires Foxes Championship top spot"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Blackburn 1-4 Leicester: Jamie Vardy fires Foxes to the top of the Championship as Enzo Maresca&#8217;s visitors dominate at Ewood Park<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Leicester City surged back to the top of the Championship on Sunday afternoon<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Jamie Vardy was one of four Foxes goalscorers against Blackburn at Ewood Park<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Love him or hate him, you can\u2019t deny Jamie Vardy is a true master of riling both opposition defenders and supporters.<\/p>\n<p>Even at 36, Leicester\u2019s talisman just can\u2019t resist making a beeline straight for the nearest rival fans after scoring.<\/p>\n<p>As Vardy said in a recent Sky Sports interview: \u2018It\u2019s part of the game, you need to embrace it all. If fans are giving you a bit they\u2019ve got to get some back.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>So after he thumped Leicester into a 2-1 lead here, Vardy stood right in front of the Blackburn end, made a telephone gesture to his ear then pointed to the name on the back of his shirt.<\/p>\n<p>Vardy has been Mr Dial-a-Goal throughout his career, from Stocksbridge Park Steels to England.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037265-0-image-a-33_1696166117221.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jamie Vardy scored to help Leicester surge back to the top of the Championship table<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037267-0-image-a-34_1696166124478.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Vardy (left) was on-target to help fire Leicester back in-front at Ewood Park on Sunday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037271-0-image-a-42_1696167166770.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Vardy celebrates in front of a set of Blackburn supporters after firing Leicester back in front<\/p>\n<p>On this occasion, the veteran helped Enzo Maresca\u2019s side back to the top of the Championship table with an eighth win from nine league games so far.<\/p>\n<p>After Rovers\u2019 Sammie Szmodics had cancelled out an early header by Wout Faes, Vardy\u2019s goal came at a crucial moment when Leicester had just ceded a little bit of control.<\/p>\n<p>A Kelechi Iheanacho penalty and a deft dinked finish by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made absolutely sure late on.<\/p>\n<p>It was another exhibition of Leicester\u2019s attacking firepower as they bid to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.<\/p>\n<p>Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson described Leicester as a \u2018Premier League side\u2019 post-match and their strength for this level is obvious. They could well run away with the title like Burnley did last season.<\/p>\n<p>But Maresca disagreed. \u2018It is easy for everyone to say Leicester is a Premier League club but we have to show it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>On Vardy\u2019s enduring quality, he added: \u2018He is an unbelievable professional in terms of his working every day, with his open mind to learn the different things we are asking of him.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In the box, he is still the best, probably even including the Premier League. I don\u2019t think there are many strikers like Jamie. \u2018The most important thing is he is enjoying it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Rovers will face easier opponents but any early season optimism at Ewood Park is fast fizzling out. In the end, they were well beaten on the scoresheet.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037285-0-image-a-36_1696166194459.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Kelechi Iheanacho added Leicester&#8217;s third from the penalty spot in the second-half<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037289-0-image-a-37_1696166199401.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Centre-back Wout Faes opened the scoring as Leicester took control against Blackburn<\/p>\n<p>Tomasson said: \u2018The score doesn\u2019t reflect the game. It is a great effort but we gave some unnecessary goals away.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Leicester\u2019s fourth-minute opener came almost accidentally. Abdul Fatawu, the 19-year-old Ghanaian winger on loan from Sporting Lisbon, sent in a cross that almost caught Aynsley Pears out, the Rovers keeper forced to touch it over the top.<\/p>\n<p>Dewsbury-Hall tapped the corner short to Fatawu, whose back post cross found the tall, threatening figure of Faes only loosely marked by the Rovers defence.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037527-0-image-a-39_1696166785239.jpg\" height=\"459\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>Leicester manager Enzo Maresca watched on as his side dominated<\/p>\n<p>The Belgian\u2019s header was emphatic enough, back across Pears and into the far bottom corner.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019re top of the league\u2019 sang the travelling fans but the element of control that early opener gave them was quickly surrendered.<\/p>\n<p>They got into a muddle trying to pass out from keeper Mads Hermansen initially and it resulted in Szmodics directing a tame header which troubled nobody.<\/p>\n<p>But from that restart, Hermansen tried to pass out to Harry Winks on the edge of Leicester\u2019s area under pressure from Szmodics. Winks hadn\u2019t clocked Lewis Travis in his orbit and the Rovers captain stole the ball off him.<\/p>\n<p>There was still work to do but a defensive tackle by Ricardo Pereira presented Szmodics with possession and he composed himself well before rolling home.<\/p>\n<p>Having shot themselves in the foot, Leicester suddenly looked a little vulnerable. Jannik Vestergaard lost the ball in midfield and Rovers streamed forward on the break only for Dilan Markanday to shoot straight at Hermansen.<\/p>\n<h3>MATCH FACTS<\/h3>\n<p>Blackburn Rovers (4-2-3-1): Pears (Wahlstedt 62); Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Pickering (Rankin-Costello 88); Travis (c), A. Wharton (Tronstad 83); Markanday (Telalovic 83), Sigurdsson (Dolan 61), Moran; Szmodics<\/p>\n<p>Substitutes not used: Hill, S. Wharton, Garrett, Gilsenan<\/p>\n<p>Manager: Jon Dahl Tomasson<\/p>\n<p>Scorer: Szmodics 9<\/p>\n<p>Booked: Carter, A. Wharton<\/p>\n<p>Leicester City (4-3-3): Hermansen; Pereira (Choudhury 70), Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Ndidi, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu (McAteer 58; Casadei 76)), Vardy (c) (Iheanacho 76), Mavididi (Akgun 70)<\/p>\n<p>Substitutes not used: Stolarczyk (GK); Coady, Souttar, Daka<\/p>\n<p>Manager: Enzo Maresca<\/p>\n<p>Scorers: Faes 4; Vardy 28; Iheanacho pen 82; Dewsbury-Hall 88<\/p>\n<p>Booked: Fatawu, Mavididi, Vestergaard<\/p>\n<p>Referee: James Linington<\/p>\n<p>Attendance: 15,937 (3,270 away)<\/p>\n<p>But Leicester have too much quality to be second-best for too long in games and they were ahead again before the half-hour.<\/p>\n<p>There were groans from the locals when Faes was again left unchecked at a corner, but the defender couldn\u2019t make contact this time.<\/p>\n<p>Vardy then hit a rasping half-volley from the edge of the box that bounced off the top of the crossbar.<\/p>\n<p>That proved to be merely a sighter. A few moments later, Wilfred Ndidi led a charge down the right and knew precisely where Vardy would be in the centre.<\/p>\n<p>The first-time, low cross was inch-perfect, and though Vardy\u2019s first touch appeared to have taken him too far wide, he almost used the angle to his advantage, lashing his shot left-footed and high into the net.<\/p>\n<p>The former England frontman had made a similar dart but on the opposite side just before half-time but was ignored by Stephy Mavididi, who found Dewsbury-Hall instead. He could only pick out the side-netting, however.<\/p>\n<p>Just after the restart Vestergaard tripped Andrew Moran right on the edge of Leicester\u2019s box but Szmodics bent the free-kick wide.<\/p>\n<p>But Leicester carried constant threat on the counter and Vardy rounded Pears before cutting back to Ndidi, whose shot was blocked by Harry Pickering\u2019s vital intervention.<\/p>\n<p>Pears injured himself in the process of trying to close down Vardy and had to be replaced.<\/p>\n<p>Maresca tried to shore things up by bringing on Hamza Choudhury but they lost another sub, Kasey McAteer, to injury when he pulled up when almost through on goal.<\/p>\n<p>Vardy was withdrawn at that point as well, taking one last opportunity to rev his team-mates up for the final push as he walked off.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037503-0-image-a-40_1696166794713.jpg\" height=\"415\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was sent through on goal to score Leicester&#8217;s final goal against Blackburn<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/01\/14\/76037523-0-image-a-41_1696166797997.jpg\" height=\"398\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Sammie Szmodics (left) initially pulled Blackburn back on level terms against Leicester<\/p>\n<p>Rovers really should have equalised just after that. Tyrhys Dolan steamed into the Leicester box down the left and cut back to Travis, whose shot was saved by Hermansen before falling to Szmodics. His effort was blocked too.<\/p>\n<p>But Leicester were handed the chance to settle it when Hayden Carter tugged the shirt of Vestergaard at a corner.<\/p>\n<p>There was a total absence of protest as James Linington pointed to the spot and Iheanacho made no mistake from 12 yards.<\/p>\n<p>Dewsbury-Hall then added some late embellishment, dinking home from a tight angle after Yunus Akgun\u2019s neat pass in behind.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12581259\/Blackburn-1-4-Leicester-Jamie-Vardy-championship.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blackburn 1-4 Leicester: Jamie Vardy fires Foxes to the top of the Championship as Enzo Maresca&#8217;s visitors dominate at Ewood <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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