Vardy winds back the years to expose similar Spurs issues | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou’s reign so far as Tottenham boss can be summed up well by their disappointing opening game draw with newly promoted Leicester City.

Spurs were absolutely brilliant in parts of this Monday night fixture but far from it in others. And for all their breathtaking energy and attacking threat, an openness and vulnerability at the back combined with an inability to kill teams off is what has ultimately cost them three points.

Postecoglou issued a reminder ahead of Tottenham’s opening Premier League game at the King Power Stadium that his second season at a club is usually one where he wins something. And their dominant first-half display showed signs that this could well be the season Spurs end their long trophy drought.

Their first-half performance was perhaps one of the closest to Postecoglou’s ultimate vision for his Tottenham team since he took over as boss last summer. Spurs were absolutely relentless to the point where you could not help but feel a bit sorry for Leicester – moving the ball with pace, purpose, and creating a flurry of chances before Pedro Porro eventually headed his side in front from James Maddison’s cross 29 minutes.

But a shock second-half equaliser from Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy ensured Steve Cooper picked up what even he would have likely admitted at half-time was an unlikely point in his first competitive game as manager of the club.

Vardy, now 37, is in his 12th year as a Leicester player and having won the Premier League, FA Cup, and played in the Champions League with the Foxes, is proving he is not done yet after helping fire the club back to the top-flight last season.

Leicester looked like they stood no chance of a result by the time the half-time whistle blew. Tottenham were just impressive without the ball as they were with it, hunting down in packs to win it back from their opponents after they had given the ball away. The image of navy and white flashes zipping around in front of the Foxes’ players will likely still be hard to shake when they try to sleep at night.

James Maddison, out with a point to prove after missing out on the England squad which reached the Euro 2024 final this summer, had the freedom of the pitch where he first made his name as a Premier League player. And he was involved in the opening goal for Porro, who grabbed a deserved opener for his side. The full-back put in an immense performance in those opening 45 minutes, causing problems for Leicester out on the right flank but also with his tendency to drift into the middle, which saw him brilliantly meet Maddison’s curling cross and glance the ball into the far corner with a fine header.

The only thing missing from Tottenham’s first-half display was more goals, and Leicester will have been more relieved that the visitors’ lead was only one rather than disappointed at the break. Spurs enjoyed 73% of the ball in the first 45 minutes, had ten shots on goal and completed 295 passes to just 99 for Leicester.

Dominic Solanke, making his first start for the club since his £65m summer move from Bournemouth, should perhaps have done better with a back-post diving header, which fell straight into the gloves of Mads Hermansen when the scores were still level, and headed straight at the goalkeeper again shortly after. Cristian Romero also went close before the opener when he headed just wide from a Porro cross.

But as the old adage goes, you must put the game to bed while you are on top, which is something Spurs have failed to do too many times and again proved to be their undoing.

Even just before Vardy’s vintage equaliser, Tottenham had opportunities to extend their lead. Solanke spurned another big opportunity to open his account for the club, firing low and hard at Hermansen after being picked out by the tricky Maddison before Rodrigo Bentancur did similarly.

Then came Vardy’s moment. Spurs failed to clear their lines properly and the lively Abdul Fatawu picked out the veteran striker, who had used his experience to stay just onside and head in from close range.

Vardy is not the constant annoyance he once was to opposition defences but is still capable of causing plenty of problems in the Premier League. The goal seemed to wake him up and he should have added a second when he was sent racing through on goal by Brighton loanee Facundo Buoanotte in what would have been a trademark Vardy goal, only for Vicario to this time deny him with a great stop.

Spurs’ worries were added to further on the 70-minute mark when Bentancur was forced off on a stretcher after a nasty clash of heads. The Uruguyan has endured a nightmare with injuries in the past couple of season and showed exactly what Spurs had missed when he was unavailable during their fabulous first-half performance.

But with that one-sided first-half now a distant memory, Leicester looked the more likely side to win it – Wilfred Ndidi connecting well with a header to force a good stop from Vicario late on. Spurs also had chances to win it, however, with  Richarlison heading just over with almost the last touch of the game from a Lucas Bergvall free-kick.

This was a fight-back that the late Craig Shakespeare, who played such a significant role in the modern day success of Leicester City and was paid a heartfelt tribute ahead of the game having passed away earlier this month, would have been immensely proud of.

FEATURED IMAGE: Michael Regan/Getty Images