[ad_1]
José Mourinho is well aware that Serge Aurier may be guilty of a torrent of blood. Do you remember what the Tottenham manager told him in the club’s Amazon documentary? “I’m afraid of you as a marker,” said Mourinho in front of the rest of the squad. “Because you can do a fucking penalty with the VAR.” The death gaze from the side was an image.
Aurier has been excellent for much of this season, but his old failure again had a destructive effect here, tilting a tense game in Leicester’s favor. I could see Wesley Fofana go for the ball in the very corner of the penalty area, but there was little left for Leicester’s center half as he headed far from goal. Which made Aurier’s barge against his back even more reckless. Enter VAR and the only decision is whether the contact had been within the area. I had.
Jamie Vardy took the penalty in the 45th minute down the middle and, at last, the game had a talking point and something that opened it up. It had been extremely tight before and it always felt like a moment, good or bad, was decisive.
Leicester had been marginally the better team before the penalty and played more freely in the second half en route to their sixth away win in seven Premier League games this season and one of their biggest returns.
Vardy was involved in the second goal, his header went into the unfortunate Toby Alderweireld, and the Spurs were left to consider a winless third game and what happens when they can’t counter their opponents. Brendan Rodgers knew he couldn’t allow that to happen and aside from a couple of scares in the first half, the Leicester manager managed to balance himself.
Even at home, the Spurs didn’t want to go out, and it was hard work for them to create. Harry Kane played at Son Heung-min in the 15th minute only for the South Korean to slip his side foot past the far post, it was neither a shot nor a cross, while Kane headed in from a Son corner just before the penalty. He had managed to hang above Youri Tielemans, but he just couldn’t get his body shape correct.
Leicester seemed the most cohesive team before the break, playing more with the front foot but not being able to create anything clear. Vardy had a blocked shot; James Maddison worked with Lloris with a devious effort. And so the present of the penalty was received with more gratitude.
Mourinho had started Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele in a league game for the first time this season, although the former was more well wedged in on the right flank, with Steven Bergwijn included among the substitutes. It didn’t work. The coach hooked Ndombele at half-time, while he lost Lo Celso through injury in the 49th minute. On the sidelines, Mourinho did not include Dele Alli in his squad despite the presence of nine players on the bench.
At the time of Lo Celso’s retirement, Leicester thought they had scored again, and it certainly was a beautiful shot from Maddison, who caught a high ball from James Justin in his stride before launching a low shot into the far corner. In real time, it looked like the Spurs might have an offside case against them, as Aurier had been slow to come out. What VAR showed, when the lines came out, was that Maddison’s arm was slightly ahead of Alderweireld. It was one of those man versus machine moments that causes despair.
The Fiver – Sign up and receive our daily soccer email.
Leicester did not feel sorry for himself and closed the game shortly after. Harvey Barnes drew attention with his runs down the left, but it was Marc Albrighton on the other flank who created second, drifting off a cross that asked Vardy to jump on Moussa Sissoko, which he did. Vardy directed the ball back through the goal and Alderweireld, who was very close, could only watch in horror as he deflected it to the nearest corner.
The Spurs looked beaten. They are extended to Kasper Schmeichel after Alderweireld hit a corner in the 71st minute, but there would be no turning back.
