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Jamie Vardy scored his second hat-trick of the season as Leicester came back to upset Manchester City in a wild 5-2 victory and claim a third straight win to open the Premier League season on Sunday (Monday NZT).
The City defense couldn’t handle the pace and movement of Vardy, who won two penalties, converting them both, on either side of a brilliant shot that saw him launch the ball to the near post with a deft heel.
Catherine Ivill / Getty Images
Jamie Vardy completes his hat-trick from the penalty spot as Leicester rebelled against Manchester City at the Etihiad.
Vardy also scored three goals against West Bromwich Albion in the opening weekend as he looks to back up a 2019-20 season that ended as the league’s top scorer with 23 goals.
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James Maddison added a quarter for Leicester at the Etihad Stadium by taking a shot into the top corner from 25 meters as City fell back to the substitute, and Youri Tielemans converted a third penalty for his team in the 87th minute, by which time Vardy had been replaced.
“We modified it tactically today, knowing that when we caught the ball and played through their press, we would have some chances and we left them all,” Vardy said.
“We have prepared to infuriate them and it has worked wonderfully.”
Laurence Griffiths / AP
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, center, can’t beat Leicester duo Nampalys Mendy and Youri Tielemans.
Former Leicester player Riyad Mahrez gave City the lead in the fourth minute with an impressive blow and Nathan Ake disallowed a goal in the 84th minute for City, who had no up front with Sergio Agüero and Gabriel Jesús absent.
It was a concerning display by Pep Guardiola’s team, which did not feature a host of key players due to injuries and Covid-19-related issues, including Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan.
It came six days after City looked so confident by beating Wolves 3-1 in their first game of the season, but Guardiola’s team was repeatedly eliminated on Sunday (Monday NZT).
“It was a brilliant performance and result,” said Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers.
“It has taken me 13 years to play that way. I really like to attack and be aggressive. I always try to be positive, but I need to think of other ways to get results in these games. “
Catherine Ivill / AP
Leicester’s Jamie Vardy walks away with the match ball after pocketing a 3-pointer to put the Foxes on top of the Premier League.
Spurs do not comply with the handball rule
Tottenham did not comply with the interpretation of defensive handball recently adopted by the Premier League, conceding a penalty in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at home to Newcastle on Sunday (Monday NZT).
A header from Newcastle substitute Andy Carroll struck the outstretched arm of Eric Dier, who was looking the other way, inside the area and the referee awarded a penalty after seeing the incident on the pitch monitor.
Andrew Boyers / AP
Newcastle’s Callum Wilson, left, takes his penalty on Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to earn a point from the Magpies.
Callum Wilson converted the penalty in the seventh minute of injury time, prompting Tottenham manager José Mourinho to burst into the tunnel in disgust.
The Premier League has aligned itself with the rest of European football this season and applied the defensive handball rule in a stricter way rather than judging it by intention. Like Robin Koch, Victor Lindelof, Matt Doherty, Neal Maupay and Joel Ward before him this season, Dier was judged to have made his body abnormally larger by having his arm extended when he was hit by the ball.
Daniel Leal-Olivas / AP
Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, left, argues with referee Peter Bankes about awarding a late penalty for Newcastle.
Crystal Palace coach Roy Hodgson said on Saturday (Sunday NZT), after watching his team lose 2-1 on a penalty awarded for handball, that the rule was to “kill the game” and “destroy my enjoyment of soccer. “.
Asked if he thought the same, a clearly furious Mourinho said: “I’d rather give my money to charity than give my money to the FA [Football Association] and be fined. “
Lucas Moura had put Tottenham ahead in the 25th minute, touching the back post after Harry Kane had pushed the ball through the six-yard box.
Having set up all four of Son Heung-min’s goals in a massive win at Southampton last weekend, Kane is already a quarter of the way down to a single season attendance record held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, after just three. rounds of games.
Clive Rose / Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane shows his frustration when another chance goes to begging the wasteful hosts.
Tottenham should have led by a greater margin at halftime against a mediocre Newcastle, with Son hitting the post and crossbar with shots from outside the box and Kane forcing a series of impressive saves from goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
Newcastle applied more pressure in the second half without seriously upsetting Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, right up to the penalty.
Amid a busy match schedule due to his team’s participation in the Europa League qualifying, Tottenham manager José Mourinho removed Son at halftime and later said the South Korean forward had a tendon injury. of the hamstring.
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce agreed with Mourinho on the controversial penalty award.
“It’s total nonsense,” Bruce said. “We have one today and we should be jumping for joy and through the hoop, but I’d be devastated if it were against us.”
Players from the past and present also spoke about their opposition to the interpretation of the rule.
“The FA must start asking some serious questions,” tweeted Jan Vertonghen, the former Tottenham defender who recently moved to Benfica. “Absolutely shocking decisions and they hide behind the referees.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher urged the game’s governing bodies to “figure this out.”
“This nonsense penalty is ruining the game,” Carragher tweeted.
Andrew Boyers / Getty Images
Tottenham manager José Mourinho burst into the tunnel after Newcastle received a controversial late penalty.
Leeds wins through the nose
Patrick Bamford scored a goal from his nose in the 88th minute to give Leeds a 1-0 win over Sheffield United, who fell to a third straight loss of the season.
Bamford found a left center from Jack Harrison with a header attempt that ended up hitting his nose and finding the bottom corner. The forward was criticized for his conversion rate last season when Leeds won promotion, but has now scored a goal in all three of the team’s games on his return to the first division.
Petr David Josek / AP
Leeds forward Patrick Bamford converts a Jack Harrison cross from the left to claim the loot against Sheffield United.
“This one came out of my nose,” Bamford said, “but I’ll take it!”
Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier made two brilliant saves, by John Lundstram and George Baldock, to keep the hosts at bay in the first half. Lundstram’s was particularly special, Meslier lunged to his right to instinctively launch a powerful shot around the post.
“Every shot he saved, his players said, ‘Who is this guy?’ but he’s a brilliant goalkeeper, ”Bamford said of Meslier, a 20-year-old Frenchman.
Sheffield United are yet to score in their first three league games so far, the first for the club in their 131-year history, and Chris Wilder’s team is struggling to replicate its form from last season when it nearly qualified for Europe. .
Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds have won back-to-back victories after beating Fulham last weekend.
Half-time substitute Rodrigo, an off-season signing from Valencia, was unable to finish the game after being withdrawn in second-half injury time.
