Leicester City vs Watford. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Leicester City and Watford at the King Power Stadium on Saturday | Jamie Vardy scores twice as Foxes returning to winning ways.
Saturday 25 November 2023 19:32, UK
Jamie Vardy came off the bench to earn Championship leaders Leicester their first victory in three matches, scoring twice in a 2-0 win over Watford.
It had looked like being a half of frustration for the former Premier League Golden Boot winner, after he somehow missed an open goal from four yards out in the 74th minute.
But he called on all of his experience to make sure he was in the right spot just two minutes later to score from close range after Jannik Vestergaard's header had been parried by Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.
Vardy then sealed the game three minutes into stoppage time when he was brought down by Bachmann as the Leicester striker raced into the penalty area.
It was a challenge that earned the goalkeeper a second yellow card as he had been booked 10 minutes earlier. Vardy took the spot-kick himself and converted it decisively as defender Ryan Porteus took over in goal.
The result eased the tension among the home fans after Enzo Maresca's side had failed to score in their previous two games. But, the longer the match went on, the more likely Leicester were to score, and so it proved.
Watford had been content to soak up Leicester's pressure and try to catch them on the break.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was City's biggest threat throughout. After 10 minutes, he found space on the left and delivered a cross into the six-yard box, but none of his team-mates could get on to the end of it as Watford cleared their lines.
Dewsbury-Hall came close in the 29th minute after Kasey McAteer tapped a free-kick to him. The Leicester midfielder shot from 20 yards out, but his effort flew just wide.
Just before half-time, Dewsbury-Hall delivered a cross to the far post but Bachmann smothered McAteer's chance on the goal-line.
Kelechi Iheanacho picked out Stephy Mavididi after 52 minutes, but his first-time shot only found the side netting, with the Leicester forward clearly annoyed with himself for failing to take advantage of the opening.
Maresca decided to make changes up front, introducing Vardy and Abdul Fatawu as substitutes. But when the two combined to create an opening, Vardy blazed his shot over the bar.
Again, Dewsbury-Hall came close to breaking the deadlock with 20 minutes to go when he turned Ryan Andrews in the Watford area, only to see his left-foot shot strike the near post.
Leicester launched a series of attacks and defender Vestergaard's header landed on the roof of the net from Ricardo Pereira's cross.
Vardy missed a clear chance after Mavididi's run carved out the chance but the former England striker made up for that just minutes later though when Leicester finally got the goal they deserved.
That forced Watford to look for an equaliser and Porteus brought a save from Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen with the visitors' only shot on target.
Leicester's Enzo Maresca:
"You can miss, miss, miss, but in the end, you want to find a goal. Jamie's scored goals all his life and he will continue to do that. It's in his blood.
"This is the reason why he's Jamie Vardy. He's scored more than 100 goals in the Premier League.
"You have to be there, to miss a chance and he was there again to score. That was the most important thing.
"The best thing for me, as a manager, is to take Jamie as an example - the way he behaved and showed he's a leader and how he wants to win games.
"But when I saw Jamie missing twice, I thought it was a game we were not going to win.
"You expect missed chances from all of the players in the squad apart from Jamie!"
Watford's Valerien Ismael:
"I spoke with Dan [Bachmann]. I said to him that the first yellow card can be avoided.
"We had a meeting before the game and when you have a captain who is a goalkeeper we nominate an outfield player to speak to the referee in certain situations.
"But if our goalkeeper runs 50 yards to talk to the referee, then you are in danger of getting a yellow card."
