Huddersfield Town 1-4 Leicester City: Jamie Vardy scores twice as Leicester climb to seventh

Jamie VardyImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Jamie Vardy has now scored 15 Premier League goals this season.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers described Jamie Vardy as "one of the best around" as the striker's double helped the Foxes to a fourth consecutive Premier League win at the expense of relegated Huddersfield.

Youri Tielemans, on loan from Monaco, broke the deadlock for the Foxes with a clever finish from the edge of the area after Huddersfield failed to clear from a corner.

Vardy doubled the visitors' advantage with his 14th league goal of the season two minutes after half-time, as Ricardo Pereira delivered a perfect low cross to the back post.

Huddersfield responded quickly with their first penalty of the season, Aaron Mooy converting from the spot after 52 minutes following Caglar Soyuncu's foul on Karlan Grant.

But James Maddison added a third for the Foxes with an excellent free-kick before Vardy scored his second from the penalty spot with 84 minutes played.

On Vardy, Rodgers said: "We play a very aggressive game, an attacking game that suits offensive players and obviously he's one of the best around.

"It's great to have someone right up there who does not just score the goals but who sets up our press. He works very hard and he's a joy to work with."

The result sees Leicester climb from ninth to seventh, level on points with Wolves having played a game more.

Leicester's progress under Rodgers continues

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Leicester players have a lot of potential - Rodgers

This was former Celtic manager Rodgers' fifth game in charge of Leicester, yet it is already evident that his players have developed an understanding of the style of football he hopes to implement while at the club.

The 46-year-old described his side as "outstanding" in their victory over Bournemouth last time out, and despite a slow start to the match, the Foxes once more put in an impressive attacking display.

Tielemans, 21, who has impressed consistently since his January arrival, brought his side to life with a composed opening goal 24 minutes in and Leicester were relentless for the remainder of the match.

Terriers goalkeeper Ben Hamer was kept busy as Leicester surged for a second before the interval, denying Demarai Gray as Ben Chilwell also went close.

In a week when the late Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha would have celebrated his 61st birthday, Rodgers side again hinted at their promise for next season with sweeping counter-attacks as Vardy and Maddison made sure of the points.

With Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans absent, only 22-year-old Soyuncu's error for Huddersfield's penalty dampened Leicester's afternoon, while Kasper Schmeichel had to produce a sublime save when called upon to deny Steve Mounie's curling strike.

It's another positive step for Leicester, who maintain their hopes of possible Europa League qualification.

"The idea is to finish as high as we can. You want to be in Europe if you can. We'll see if we can find a different way to get in there," said Rodgers.

"If it's this season great. If not, throughout my contract here that was the aim. So far the boys have been absolutely first class."

Relegated Terriers put up fight in front of home crowd

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Siewert takes positives from heavy defeat

After their "inevitable" relegation was confirmed with defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend, the remaining fixtures of Huddersfield's two-year stay in the Premier League must focus solely on building positivity ahead of next season.

Since Jan Siewart's arrival in January, the Terriers have now lost nine of their ten league games, while there were reports this week, external that the former Borussia Dortmund coach's job was already under threat after falling out with senior players.

The Terriers, backed by a lively home crowd, made a confident start against Leicester and looked comfortable in possession up until the visitors' opener.

They had goalkeeper Hamer to thank on several occasions as they trailed by just the single goal at half-time.

However, they remained short of ideas in attack until the introduction of substitutes Isaac Mbenza and Mounie.

Mbenza almost had an instant impact, creating space down the right before sending an inviting ball into the path of Grant, while Mounie's effort was only kept out by an alert Schmeichel.

Understandably, following the disappointment of relegation, the heads of the Huddersfield players dropped as a clinical Leicester disappeared from view.

Terriers chairman Dean Hoyle believes his club is "in its best position in modern memory" as they prepare for life in the Championship; yet while financial figures released last week showed a club-record profit, both he and Siewart will hope for some improvement on the pitch in their final five top-flight games.

"We have to give credit to Leicester, we couldn't beat their quality today, they were much more clinical than we are and we needed too many opportunities," said Siewart.

"The supporters know the time in the Premier League is time we can take much learning out of. It's about being clinical - this is the crucial thing about being in the Premier League."

Man of the match - Jamie Vardy (Leicester)

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

A man in form. Leicester striker Jamie Vardy epitomised his side's clinical performance, scoring twice to make it eight goals in his last eight games.

Huddersfield finally get a penalty - the stats

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

  • The Foxes have won 10 of their last 11 league games against Huddersfield Town, drawing the other game in September 2017.

  • Jamie Vardy has scored in each of his last four league games against Huddersfield, registering five goals, including four in three in the Premier League.

  • James Maddison has scored three direct free-kick goals in the Premier League this season, the most by a player in a single campaign since the three scored by Philippe Coutinho in 2016-17.

  • 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.

  • Huddersfield Town have lost 19 of their last 21 games in all competitions since the beginning of December 2018, winning one and drawing one. That's more defeats than any other side in the top four tiers of English football during that period.

  • This was Huddersfield's 25th Premier League defeat of the season; only in 1987-88 in the second tier have they lost more games in a league campaign, losing 28.

  • The Terriers' penalty was their first in the Premier League this season and the first in the league since February 2018, making them the 20th and final club to win a spot-kick in the competition this season.

What's next?

Leicester host Newcastle on Friday, 12 April, (20:00 BST), while Huddersfield travel to face Tottenham next Saturday (12:30 BST).

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