Steve Cooper has backed Leicester captain Jamie Vardy to continue to be the main man after he rescued a point from their Premier League opener at home to Tottenham.
Vardy had been expected to sit out the Monday night clash after he missed a large chunk of pre-season with a muscle injury.
However, the Leicester forward declared himself fit over the weekend and rewarded new boss Cooper with a poacher’s finish at the back post from Abdul Fatawu’s cross in the 57th minute to cancel out Pedro Porro’s first-half opener in a 1-1 draw.
There’s never a dull moment when Jamie Vardy is around 😅 pic.twitter.com/0gZ0NKwgKQ
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 19, 2024
It was Vardy’s 137th top-flight goal and ninth against Tottenham, who he later taunted as he was substituted when he pointed to the Premier League badge and signalled one in reference to the Foxes’ shock title win in 2016.
Cooper, who replaced Enzo Maresca in the summer, said: “If the game was yesterday or Saturday, for sure he wouldn’t have played.
“He is the main man here and we want him to continue to be that guy but it wasn’t sitting right with him that we were coming into this game and didn’t have a fit senior striker because Patson Daka has had an operation.
“He was feeling OK in his rehab, came to me and declared himself fit, so ‘go play boy, no problem,’.
“For sure, he is not normal in terms of what he can still produce at his age and the athlete he is.
“We’re just, and me particularly, going to really work strong with him to have the right programme, respect his body and what he feels is right for him and his preparation.
“And if we do that, then I feel we can get more moments like that out of him. He is the main man here, for sure and I want that to continue.”
Ange Postecoglou was frustrated after his Tottenham team squandered a host of first-half chances.
Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke went close before Porro headed in a superb delivery by James Maddison, who impressed on his first return to King Power Stadium.
Solanke tested Mads Hermansen again at the start of the second half before Rodrigo Bentancur, who later left the pitch on a stretcher following a sickening head injury, curled an effort straight at the Leicester goalkeeper.
It proved costly when Fatawu cut inside and picked out the unmarked Vardy to head home at the back post to spark jubilant celebrations.
Vardy almost grabbed a second soon after but was thwarted by Guglielmo Vicario’s fine low save and while further chances followed a seven-minute delay for Bentancur’s head injury, it finished 1-1.
“Disappointing outcome,” Postecoglou reflected.
“Very dominant first half, really wasteful in front of goal. We started the second half similar. First 15 to 20 minutes very dominant, wasteful but you know at 1-0 there is always an opportunity for the opposition to come back into the game.
“That’s what happened and we lost our way for 15 or 20 minutes. We lost our composure and the crowd got behind them, but again (we) finished strong.
“Just really disappointed we lacked a little cutting edge in the front third, made some poor decisions, lacked some composure and didn’t get the reward our football deserved.”
Postecoglou handed a debut to £65million signing Solanke, who produced plenty of positive moments outside of the penalty area but failed to make the most of three golden chances.
He added: “Dom was good. He worked hard for the team. He had a couple of chances he will be disappointed he didn’t do better with.
“The overall performance of everyone was OK, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t turn that performance into outcomes.
“We had similar issues last year and if we’re going to get to the next level as a team and bridge the gap to the top sides, it is an area of the game we need to improve.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
