MY ACCOUNT
Jamie Vardy marked his return from injury with a goal as Leicester ended a five-game winless run by beating Burnley 2-0.
It took until the 82nd minute for the deadlock to be broken as James Maddison found a pocket of space on the edge of the area and lashed a left-footed strike into the bottom corner.
Vardy, 35, then sealed the three points eight minutes later, heading in unmarked at the back post from Harvey Barnes’ left-wing cross — his first outing since December 28.
The result sees Leicester rise to 12th in the Premier League, while Burnley miss the chance to move above Everton and out of the relegation zone.
Foxes goalscorer Vardy hailed the team’s performance and believes the side are improving.
He said: “[The win] has been a long time coming. It is tough getting a big injury. To come back and to be involved in both goals and get the win, it is very good.
“I came on, tried to make that impact, which I managed to do, and we took the three points. We knew it would be tough. We defended well at set-pieces.
“Overall the lads have done brilliantly and I think we deserved the win. It feels massive. I think performances have been getting better and better.”
Despite the defeat, Burnley boss Sean Dyche was reluctant to be too harsh in his assessment of his side’s performance.
He said: “I have to be careful not to be too critical. We stepped away from the mark to be fair. We got a bit stronger in the second half but didn’t ask enough questions. We didn’t play with the tempo we had in the last seven or eight games.
“We are a work in progress. It is about the detail at both ends of the pitch. They put a lot of money into that side, they are having a bit of a tricky season this season but they set the bar high.
“The first goal was a really important goal. The keeper smashes it down the pitch, it was a good finish to be fair. The second one our left-back just didn’t get around quick enough.”
Did you know?
Leicester secured their first league win of 2022, drawing two and losing three of their previous five Premier League games since a 1-0 win over Liverpool on December 28.
The Foxes also won an away league game by a two-goal margin for the first time in over a year since beating Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage in February 2021.
Maddison has scored three goals in his last two games in all competitions, as many as he managed in his previous 10. His total of 19 goal involvements for Leicester this season in all competitions (12 goals, seven assists), is his best return in a single campaign for the Foxes (one more than his 18 last season).
Since his Premier League debut on August 31 2014, Vardy has been directly involved in 168 goals (128 goals, 40 assists), a haul bettered only by Harry Kane in that time (207).
Youri Tielemans (24y 298d) became the fourth-youngest player to reach 100 Premier League starts for Leicester after Emile Heskey, Wilfred Ndidi and Muzzy Izzet.
