Leicester City vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
The King Power StadiumAttendance31,550.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday | Abdul Fatawu and Jamie Vardy seal a comfortable win for the league-leading Foxes.
Tuesday 13 February 2024 23:20, UK
Leicester strengthened their position at the top of the Sky Bet Championship as captain Jamie Vardy scored against his boyhood club in a 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at King Power Stadium.
Enzo Maresca's side had the game won by half-time and are now 14 points clear of third-placed Southampton as they close in on promotion back to the Premier League.
Vardy, who was released by the Owls for being too small as a teenager, also played a part in the opening goal for Abdul Fatawu after four minutes.
Vardy started a game for the first time in more than two months and, coincidentally, the last Championship game he was on from the start was against Wednesday.
But this was a genuine team display with threats from all over the pitch in a commanding performance against Danny Rohl's struggling side.
Leicester took an early lead after a mix-up in the visitors' defence.
Goalkeeper James Beadle's short pass put Will Vaulks in trouble with Dennis Praet close by. The ball fell to Kieran Dewsbury-Hall who delivered a cross meant for Vardy - but his step-over allowed the ball to go through for Fatawu and he tapped into an empty net.
Wednesday struggled against Leicester's slick style of play with Harry Winks, Vardy and Dewsbury-Hall all causing problems.
On the half-hour, Dewsbury-Hall twisted and put in a cross which defender Wout Faes could only hook over the crossbar.
But Leicester extended their lead nine minutes before half-time when a long ball from Faes found Dewsbury-Hall and he neatly set up the chance for Vardy to score with an angled drive.
It was his 11th goal of the season and made him Leicester's top scorer.
The Owls briefly threatened to pull a goal back when Djeidi Gassama's long-range shot was saved by Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
Wednesday substitute Anthony Musaba then sent a shot inches past the far post as the game passed the hour mark.
Vardy received a standing ovation when he was substituted with 10 minutes to go.
Leicester were able to play out the final minutes under no pressure, although there were some encouraging signs for Rohl in the second half.
Leicester's Enzo Maresca:
"If any of my players show a drop, I will change them, even after two minutes.
"They won't play. We aren't changing anything, we have to keep winning and we have to respect our opponents.
"I'm very happy with this win, but now the focus moves on to Saturday when we play Middlesbrough.
"We struggled a little when they changed shape in the second half, but after about 15 or 20 minutes we were OK.
"But I wanted a third goal before half-time to make us more comfortable, if they score one they can come back."
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"We showed a lot more in the second half and I was happier with our reaction to going behind. We changed to a back five but it was more having the belief.
"There was an improvement, but against Leicester you need to be good for 90 minutes and we had one good half.
"That was the positive thing we can take from the game and I think our supporters at the end recognised our second-half performance.
"This is what we can do if we are on the front foot, the data showed that. If we could have had one goal, then maybe we can try to do something.
"At Leicester it is a challenge, but we always wanted to try to get something. We drew with them at home. We know how strong they are, they are outstanding. But we reacted better than we did against Southampton.
"What we have to do now is come to every game and take as many points as we can."
