Goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez gave lift-off to Claude Puel's tenure at Leicester City, the Foxes performing brilliantly to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.

Leicester were delighted to be 2-0 up at half-time and dug in firmly for the second period, conceding to Harry Kane late on but holding on for three points.

Despite a tough winter schedule ahead, neither Puel or counterpart deemed it appropriate to rotate their teams, a tactic that paid off for the home boss extremely early.

Hugo Lloris has been criticised in the past for rushing out of his goal a little to early and he was exposed once more by Mark Albrighton's through ball, from which Vardy ran onto and lofted a calm finish beautifully over the Frenchman.

Spurs could have levelled almost instantly but were left disappointed as Dele Alli ended a counter attack with a tame shot at Kasper Schmeichel, something the visitors would be made to pay for before half-time.

It was back to Leicester's best with the Vardy-Mahrez combination sending the hosts two goals ahead, Mahrez cutting in from the right before sending a fine finish across Lloris and into the far corner. 

With his side struggling for goals in the second-half, Pochettino turned to Erik Lamela to make an impact, the Argentinean's first appearance in over a year after a horrible injury.

Lamela had the desired effect, setting up Kane to finish after a swift one touch passing move, but it wasn't enough as Spurs failed to complete their comeback, a glaring miss from Fernando Llorente the standout highlight of the closing minutes.

Spurs losing pace at the top

Having sealed top spot in their Champions League group less than two weeks ago, Spurs' morale isn't as high as it could be as they moved to three league games without a win.

The North London Derby loss was followed up by that fantastic win over Borussia Dortmund in Germany, but then more domestic points were dropped at home to West Brom.

Now fifth, Spurs could be down to seventh by the time they contend with a tricky trip to Watford on Saturday.

Puel going through the gears

Much like the man himself, Claude Puel's start to life at Leicester has been fairly quiet.

However, the Frenchman now looks ready to push his new club into the top half of the Premier League table for the remainder of the season, the Foxes having put on their finest display yet under him against Spurs.

With a four game spell coming up where they play none of the top six, there's a good chance that Puel's quiet start could suddenly become very noisy.

VAVEL Logo
About the author