Huddersfield 1-4 Leicester: Jamie Vardy double sends Foxes into seventh

Jamie Vardy scored twice as Leicester beat Huddersfield 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, sending the Foxes into seventh place.

Huddersfield's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed last weekend and it showed as Leicester looked comfortable in the first half with Youri Tielemans (24) scoring a delightful opener.

Vardy slotted home his first goal just three minutes after the break before Huddersfield were awarded their first penalty of the season, which Aaron Mooy converted (52).

But their joy was short-lived as James Maddison curled a superb free-kick home in the 79th minute before the second spot-kick of the afternoon was scored by Vardy (84) to send Leicester into seventh on goal difference, going ahead of Wolves and Watford, who face each other in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

Leicester had plenty of early chances. In the 10th minute, Maddison just missed a cross from Harvey Barnes, unable to head it home, with both involved again not long after. Another Barnes cross was saved by the legs of Ben Hamer before Maddison's attempt at the rebound was also stopped by the Huddersfield goalkeeper.

Tielemans is quickly becoming a Leicester fan favourite and endeared himself further with a beautifully taken goal in the 24th minute. Vardy scuffed a shot from Maddison's corner before Christopher Schindler toe-poked a clearance into the path of Tielemans. He then scooped his shot over the area and into the back of the net.

Vardy could have been awarded a penalty not long after the goal. He appeared to be fouled by Terence Kongolo in the area - having already rounded the defender and Schindler on the right - before Demarai Gray fired the loose ball across the face of goal.

The half-time team talks certainly worked and it produced a whirlwind second period. Huddersfield had their best effort of the game just minutes after the restart. Karlan Grant tried to turn home from close range but forced an instinctive save from Kasper Schmeichel before Alex Pritchard's attempt on the rebound was also collected by the Leicester goalkeeper.

Leicester then instantly made it two when Gray tapped the ball into the path of Ricardo Pereira down the left, whose cross was tapped home by an unmarked Vardy, although replays showed he was offside in the build-up.

Referee David Coote was officiating his 11th Premier League game on Saturday and was yet to award a penalty, but this changed in the 50th minute as Huddersfield received their first spot-kick of the season - although it looked to be an incorrect decision.

Calgar Soyuncu and Grant both went for a loose ball and the Leicester defender got his foot onto a big chunk of it before catching the striker. Despite Leicester protests, Coote pointed to the spot and Mooy duly fired home, sending Schmeichel the wrong way.

But any hope of a Huddersfield comeback was dashed in the 79th minute as Maddison curled a superb free-kick into the far bottom corner after Jonathan Hogg pulled down Vardy just outside the area. There was a confrontation between Hogg and goalkeeper Hamer in the aftermath, with the former substituted not long after.

Vardy rounded off the victory when Coote correctly awarded his second penalty of the season - and the game - after the striker was fouled again by Kongolo in the area. His former Leicester team-mate Hamer almost kept it out but the power on the penalty saw the ball slip through the goalkeeper's fingers and into the back of the net.

Opta stats

Leicester have now matched their points tally from the entire 2017-18 season in their 33 league matches this season (47 points).

Huddersfield have lost 19 of their last 21 games in all competitions since the beginning of December 2018 (W1 D1), more than any other side in the top four tiers of English football in that period.

This was Huddersfield's 25th Premier League defeat of the season; only in the 1987-88 second-tier season have they ever lost more games in a Football League campaign (28).

Huddersfield's penalty was their first in the Premier League this season since they last had one in February 2018, making them the 20th and final club to win a spot-kick in the competition this season.

Youri Tielemans has either scored or assisted a goal in five of his last six Premier League games for Leicester, scoring in two and assisting in three.

The managers

Jan Siewert: "The players always react to it. Today, after half-time when I told them what we changed, they went for it, then Aaron Mooy scored and it came out of the things which we had spoken about at half-time. So I see that they are reacting but at the end, it is a bit of a disappointment and after such a hard week for us mentally, I think it is also hard to take for the boys.

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"We had the possibilities to score and they went for it, but in the end, I feel sorry for them that it didn't happen."

Brendan Rodgers: "It was a very good attacking performance. When it got to 2-1, we had to show a reaction and it was very, very good. It was always going to be a difficult game for us today with Huddersfield getting relegated and they wanted to have a reaction, of course.

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"The team worked ever so hard, they were creative and we scored four goals. We could have had one or two more with a better final pass."

Man of the match - Jamie Vardy

It was a vintage Vardy performance at the John Smith's Stadium, scoring twice and generally being a menace for a beleaguered Huddersfield defence. He had the rub of the green with his opener - he was certainly offside - and probably should have been booked twice for kicking the ball away, but he just about kept himself out of trouble.

He scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season and is well on course for a second successive 20-goal haul in the Premier League, with the potential to sneak into the Premier League Golden Boot race. He also went above Foxes legend Gary Lineker as Leicester's sixth highest-ever goalscorer having now netted 104 goals for the club.

• Premier League top scorers

What's next?

Both teams are live on Sky Sports next weekend. Leicester host Newcastle on Friday Night Football before Huddersfield travel to Tottenham for a Saturday lunchtime kick-off.

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