Leicester 2 Brighton 2: Seagulls capitulate and throw away two-goal lead as Vardy leads late comeback for Van Nistelrooy
HOW many more scripts has Jamie Vardy got left in him?
Once again, the Leicester City legend, 38 next month, rode to the rescue to make sure new boss Ruud van Nistelrooy stayed unbeaten after two games.
Brighton were cruising to victory – and fifth place in the Premier League – thanks to Tariq Lamptey’s first-half super strike and sub Yankuba Minteh.
But Fabian Hurzeler’s side took their foot off the gas – and Vardy needed no second invitation.
Leicester levelled it up with two goals in the space of five minutes late on – and Vardy played his part in both of them.
He gave the Foxes hope after 86 minutes when he latched on to a pass from Bobby De Cordova-Reid and netted from close range.
Then, in the first minute of stoppage time, Vardy turned provider to set up De Cordova-Reid to send the King Power Stadium wild.
Until then, the closest Leicester had come to scoring was when James Justin’s header brought a save from Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton were in control throughout until the latter stages – and unlike West Ham in midweek – they had made their dominance count.
They took the lead before the break with a beautifully-struck left-foot shot from Lamptey which gave the reliable Foxes keeper Mads Hermansen no chance.
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And with 11 minutes left, Minteh was set up by Pervis Estupian and doggedly battled to create the chance for number two, just nine minutes after coming on.
But then came Leicester’s stirring fightback.
And while van Nistelrooy has problems he needs to address if Leicester are to stay up, he will know his squad lacks nothing when it comes to spirit.
Brighton’s two dropped points prevented them moving fifth, while the Foxes have now edged five points clear of the drop zone.