LONDON, Sporting Alert – Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick and Leicester City beat Manchester City 4-2 in the English Premier League on Saturday.
In other English Premier League scores, Arsenal beat Stoke 3-1, Burnley defeated Bournemouth 3-2, Swansea hammered Sunderland 3-0, Watford picked up a come from behind 3-2 win over Everton, while Hull and Crystal Palace finished 3-3.
In the game of the day, though, Vardy, who been struggling to score goals this season, found his scoring touch this weekend after netting in the 3rd and 20th minutes to help the Foxes take a 3-0 lead at halftime.
The England international then completed his hat-trick with a superb finish from a tight angle in the 78th minute, following some poor defending from young centre-back John Stones.
Vardy was scoring his first hat-trick since 2012 when he suited out for Fleetwood Town in the lower league.
Andy King’s stunning finish in the 5th minute also helped to ease some of the pressure off of manager Claudio Ranieri and justified his stands to play a weaken team in the Champions League group play match in Porto, which ended in a 5-0 defeat.
Defender Aleksandar Kolarov curled home an 82nd-minute free-kick and forward Nolito finished from close-range in the 90th for Manchester City, but those goals were of little significance.
“Everyone we left at home would rather have travelled but we’re all in it together,” Vardy said. “Now we’re looking forward to getting back on the training pitch.”
Ranieri said his players were determined to turn things around after the poor form recently.
“Because of the last matches we have played, my players wanted to react and show a very good performance,” the Italian said.
“In Porto we made a bad performance and the result was a shame and today we wanted to react against a big team.
“It was important to score very, very soon (early). The guys got more confident but we can only be happy until tomorrow morning. For us it was a very, very important three points.
“Champions react at the right moment…we can do something good when we are strong and a team. I hope now we can find the same level as last season.
“We can’t win all our matches but we can fight in all our matches and work so hard to defend the title.
“The next matches are very important because we are in the relegation battle. I said (to the players) I need warriors and they showed me what I wanted to see.”
At the Emirates Stadium, Theo Walcott (42), Mesut Ozil (49) and Alex Iwobi (75) all scored in Arsenal’s comeback 3-1 win over Stoke City, which took the lead on a Charlie Adam’s 29th-minute penalty.
The Gunners moved above Chelsea on goal difference in the EPL standings, but the Blues can recover the lead if they avoid defeat against West Bromwich Albion.
English Premier League
December 10
Arsenal 3-1 Stoke
Premier League Score at the Emirates Stadium.
Leicester City 4-2 Manchester City
Premier League Score at the King Power Stadium.
Burnley 3-2 Bournemouth
Premier League Score at Turf Moor.
Swansea City 3-0 Sunderland
Premier League Score at the Liberty Stadium.
Hull City 3-3 Crystal Palace
Premier League Score at the KCOM Stadium.
Watford 3-2 Everton
Premier League Score at Vicarage Road.
Leave a Reply