VARDY PARTY
Leicester 2 Watford 0: Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez strike as Hornets continue drab run
The England ace broke the deadlock in the first half after he was pulled down in the area by Molla Wague.
The England ace broke the deadlock in the first half after he was pulled down in the area by Molla Wague.
JAMIE VARDY and Riyad Mahrez found the net to heap more misery on Watford.
The Hornets have now notched up just one win in 11 Premier League matches - that sole victory coming against the Foxes on Boxing Day.
But in this return fixture they were unable to pull off a repeat of the comeback that day when they went from a goal down to winning 2-1.
For the Foxes it was also a welcome return to winning ways, having secured just one victory from their last six league matches before kick-off.
Watford have looked out of sorts ever since manager Marco Silva was linked to the Everton job in November.
Their last win at Leicester was a 2-1 Championship victory in 2013. The Foxes' goalscorer that day was a young loanee named Harry Kane. What happened to him?
Silva was forced to draft in number two keeper Orestis Karneis after Heurelho Gomes suffered a back spasm injury. But he did opt to start with skipper Troy Deeney, whose appearance off the bench against Southampton last weekend had made such an impact on the team, instead of Andre Gray.
Andre Carillo shot over the bar as early as the third minute before Varsy had a superb chance. He held off former Fox Molla Wague to run onto a through ball from Shinji Okazaki, forcing a save from Karnezis.
Deeney had already tried a shot from 25 yards out - easily pounced on by Leicester shot-stopper Kasper Schmeichel when he thought he had found the net on the 33rd minute only for referee Lee Probert to rule offside.
Then on the 38th minute Wague fouled England hit-man Vardy in the box and Probert had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.
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Vardy coolly converted past Karnezis with a shot into the bottom left hand corner to put the Foxes ahead. Since the start of the 2014 season he has now won more penalties - 13 - in the Premier League than any other player.
The Hornets did have the perfect chance to level on the 75th minute only for some great defending from Harry Maguire to deny Gray who was set up by Deeney. Maguire's last-ditch block was sent out for a corner.
Brazilian attacker Richarlison, who was a force to reckon with at the start of the season, made little impression stuck on the left wing, and has now not scored since November.
And to make matters worse for Silva - already without nine first-team players injured - Wague was replaced late on with a suspected hamstring injury. It summed up Watford's afternoon.
The Foxes then sealed all three points on the 90th minute. Substitute Adrien Silva, who replaced Vardy, had been on the pitch for just two minutes when he set up Riyad Mahrez for the second goal who scored with a left-foot shot.
