Vardy ends dry spell as Leicester win

LONDON • Jamie Vardy ended his two-month goal drought as Leicester whitewashed West Bromwich Albion 3-0 on Thursday to strengthen their grip on a Premier League top-four place and snuff out the Baggies' revival.

Brendan Rodgers' men were wobbling after losing their previous two top-flight matches, but produced a dazzling attacking display against the insipid visitors at the King Power Stadium.

First-half strikes by Vardy, Jonny Evans and Kelechi Iheanacho gave West Brom a mountain to climb and Leicester kept a firm grip on the match after the break.

James Maddison made his first start since February as the FA Cup finalists flew out of the blocks and they could easily have scored five or six goals in the opening half.

Sam Allardyce's West Brom had beaten Chelsea and Southampton to give themselves a glimmer of hope but they remain in 19th spot, nine points from safety.

Third-placed Leicester, whose implosion at the end of last term cost them a Champions League place, now have a precious four-point lead over Chelsea and West Ham - both are on 55 points - with just six games to go.

Rodgers praised the Foxes' attitude, saying he was focusing on only his own team in the battle for a Champions League spot and insisted he had no doubts that Vardy would end his longest drought - he had gone 11 games without scoring - in five years.

"Jamie has done it throughout his career and Kelechi Iheanacho is now showing his qualities - he can still improve as he is still making too many mistakes - but he is getting in there," he said.

"This group will sometimes lose games but they are so honest and they want to be better. When you have that, it is the dream ticket. It is all you can ask for as a coach."

Despite Vardy's dry spell, Leicester have maintained their charge on two fronts because of Iheanacho, who is enjoying the hottest streak of his career.

The Nigerian is the club's top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions, one more than Vardy, with 11 of them in the past eight games.

Few predicted a career-best return for Iheanacho, who until this season had not lived up to his £25 million (S$46 million) price tag when he moved from Manchester City in 2017.

But Kasper Schmeichel claimed the world was now seeing what Leicester have known for years.

"He just needed that luck, that decision or that goal," the Foxes goalkeeper said. "We knew he had the ability, we've seen it every day since he joined the club."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE