Julius OkorieOutgoing Leicester City striker, Jamie Vardy, left a record on the sand of history on Saturday after netting his 199th goal for the Foxes in their clash against Southampton.
Vardy grabbed a 17th minute goal to shoot the Foxes into the lead with teammate and Ghana international Jordan Ayew increasing the tally in the 44th minute to give the homers a 2-0 win.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelVardy, who will leave the club in the summer after 13 seasons, has three more games to reach a double century.
The 38-year-old also stepped in momentarily to halt the match, blowing the whistle of referee David Webb when he went down with a head injury after colliding with Jordan Ayew and was replaced by fourth official Sam Barrott following a 12-minute delay.
Vardy’s strike was Leicester’s first goal at home in 10 games and it was followed in the 44th minute by Ayew’s half-volley that flew into the bottom left corner to end their 11-match winless run.
Southampton’s interim boss, Simon Rusk, made two substitutions at half-time but it was his next changes that irked the travelling fans, who chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he brought off forwards Mateus Fernandes and Kamaldeen Sulemana.
Southampton remain on only 11 points, level with the top-flight’s lowest tally set by Derby in 2008.
Vardy interestingly had to multi-task in the game following what has been dubbed one of the strangest moments in the English Premier League.
The match witnessed an unconventional event during the encounter between the two teams.
The referee of the match fell to the ground due to injury after a collision with Southampton player Jordan Ayew, and at that moment, Jamie Vardy, the veteran striker of Leicester City, went to take the referee’s whistle and blew it to stop the game, in a scene that reflects his last services with the Foxes.
It could be the last of his goals in the Premier League with Leicester, completing a career that has seen many achievements with the club, most notably winning the Premier League in the 2015/2016 season.
Vardy, who is considered a symbol of the club, is preparing to bid farewell to one of the most remarkable chapters of his career, while this historic scene remains in the memory of Leicester City fans. Nigeria international Wilfred Ndidi a must play for the club was as usual in action for the entire duration of the match.
READ ALSO:Aftermath Of Relegation: Jamie Vardy Quits Leicester City After 13 Years
Southampton had on parade Super Eagles duo of Paul Onuchu and Joseph Aribo who will ply their trade in the Championship next season following the club’s relegation.
In other premier league matches played Saturday, Aston Villa defeated Fulham by a lone goal. Everton settled for a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town while Arsenal suffered yet another defeat coming just after their defeat by PSG in the Champions League semi-finals first leg.
the Gunners nonetheless maintain their second position on the log in the EPL standing with Manchester City retaining hope of finishing in the champions league belt in the third position after their lone goal victory over Wolves on Friday.
Sunday (today) will see table toppers Liverpool attempt to consolidate at the top as they visit Chelsea, who have been pushed off the top four.
They might get back to the top four if Newcastle who face Brighton today fail to click.
In other fixtures today Manchester United visit Brentford while West Ham host Tottenham all in Game week 35 clashes.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
