[ad_1]
A header by Leicester Citys English forward Jamie Vardy (L) celebrates with Leicester Citys Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans (R) after his header is deflected to his own goal by Tottenham Hotspurs’ Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld (not featured in pictured) for his second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2020 (Photo by Julian Finney / POOL / AFP)
Tottenham’s challenge for the Premier League title suffered another blow as Leicester edged out José Mourinho’s men for second place with an impressive 2-0 victory on Sunday.
Jamie Vardy’s penalty and Toby Alderweireld’s own goal put the Foxes within four points of leader Liverpool as the Spurs, for once, could not rely on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to get them out of trouble. .
Tottenham were at the top of the table until a last-minute winner for Liverpool gave the champions a 2-1 win on Wednesday, but back-to-back losses could see them drop out of the top four by the end of the weekend. if Manchester United or Chelsea win their matches in hand.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp described the Spurs as a “counterattack monster” but their shortcomings when they weren’t allowed to break were exposed by Leicester’s ingenious game plan. The Foxes were not exposed and posed the greatest threat in the transition.
A cautious first half of few precious chances saw James Maddison’s long-range shot well controlled by Hugo Lloris, while Kane headed over Son’s corner.
But Tottenham was undone by a mad moment from Serge Aurier with practically the last action of the opening period when he stormed Wesley Fofana just inside the area.
A VAR review was needed before referee Craig Pawson signaled the point and Vardy finished off his sixth penalty shot of the season to give Brendan Rodgers’ men the lead.
Mourinho saw enough in the first 45 minutes to launch Gareth Bale in the second half for his opening minutes of the Premier League in six games.
But in keeping with the Welshman’s second stint in north London since rejoining on loan from Real Madrid, Bale struggled to make some kind of impact.
Just a few millimeters denied Leicester a second in a brilliant start to the second half for the visitors when Maddison grabbed a ball over the top of James Justin and shot past Lloris, only for a review of the VAR will rule out the goal for offside.
Mourinho had sacrificed Tanguy Ndombele to bring in Bale and then lost his other midfield creator, Giovani Lo Celso, to a hamstring injury.
Lucas Moura replaced the Argentine to form a front of four alongside Kane, Son and Bale, but the Spurs were dismantled by the changes and were easily eliminated by Leicester’s counterattack.
Tottenham inflicted more damage for the second goal when Alderweireld converted Vardy’s header off the back post into his own goal.
Kasper Schmeichel was to blame for the opening goal when Leicester suffered a 2-0 loss to Everton on Wednesday, but the Dane rallied to show his class with a sensational save to prevent Son from turning home a corner at the back post and Give the Spurs Lifeline 20 minutes from time.
Leicester should have won by an even more comfortable margin, as Youri Tielemans threw a great opportunity and Harvey Barnes saw appeals for a second penalty rejected.
But two goals were enough for Rodgers to overtake Mourinho for the first time in his managerial career and show that Leicester deserve to be taken seriously as a contender for a top-four result.
