Staff Reporter.
Veteran striker Jamie Vardy earned newly-promoted Leicester City a 1-1 draw with a profligate Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League season opener on Monday.
Spurs dominated the first half but Pedro Porro’s opener in the 29th minute was the only time they could make one of a host of good chances count.
Further clear-cut opportunities came and went after the break, with the visitors’ wastefulness proving costly when Leicester skipper Vardy headed an equaliser into the net with 57 minutes gone.
“We didn’t have a striker,” Steve Cooper told Sky Sports ahead of the game. “He said he feels good, he was a little bit uncomfortable that we didn’t have a fit striker and he made himself available.
“You have to trust his judgement.”
Vardy, who did not play in a minute of the Foxes’ pre-season, had also been expected to miss their Premier League opener but promised manager Cooper he was able to play after the club was left with no other senior striker following an injury to Patson Daka.
He scored 136 goals in 307 appearances during his first spell in the Premier League but stayed with them on their return to the second tier to help them bounce back immediately.
Spurs have hopes of kicking on this season after seeing their top-four challenge fall away last term, but this was far from the ideal start.
Brazilian Richarlison missed a golden opening to win it at the end and Spurs had to settle for one point in a match they really should have taken all three from.