EPL: Nigeria’s Ndidi shines as Leicester spank Liverpool

Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi made five clearances, one interception and gained possession six times for Leicester City as the reigning English champions put up a superb display in their first game since the sack of Manager Claudio Ranieri at the King Power Stadium.

Two goals from Jamie Vardy and one from Danny Drinkwater spurred the Foxes to thump Liverpool 3-1 on Monday night, which saw them move out of the Premier League bottom three, in a much-improved display under caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare, who took over after the departure of Raineri.

“There has been a lot of unfair stuff written and you’ve seen a reaction from everyone. It’s definitely got us fired up in a good way to put a reaction on the pitch. “The mood is a bit of joy and relief,” Man of the match, Jamie Vardy, told reporters after the game.

It was Vardy who opened the scoring near the half-hour mark when he collected Marc Albrighton’s precise long pass before racing clear and finishing low past Simon Mignolet to score.

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The second was an absolute cracker from Drinkwater, who lashed in from outside the box following a clearance from a long throw, before Vardy sealed the win with a header from Christian Fuchs’ cross in the second half.

Philippe Coutinho stroked home a consolation goal for Liverpool, who would have climbed to third on the table with a victory but have now lost five of their past seven matches in all competitions.

“If you play well and lose matches then that’s just football. “But it looks like we never spoke about the strength of Leicester and that’s the trouble,” Liverpool Boss Jurgen Klopp said after the match.

Vardy’s first half goal was Leicester’s first in the league since 31 December, as the win also ended a run of five straight league defeats, however, in spectacular fashion.

Leicester will now host Hull City on Saturday, followed by the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Sevilla on 14 March; while Liverpool will host Arsenal in Saturday.

 

 

 

 

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