JAMIE VARDY AND Riyad Mahrez scored stunning goals as Leicester City held firm against a late onslaught to inflict more away-day woes on Tottenham in a 2-1 victory.
In a performance largely reminiscent of their remarkable title-winning triumph of 2015-16, the Foxes clinched a first home league win over Spurs at the King Power Stadium.
The stars of the show were two men who were so influential in Leicester’s title win, with Vardy setting the tone with a stunning, audacious lob on the stretch that would have made Lionel Messi proud.
Not to be outdone, Mahrez lashed home from outside in the area after a superb solo run as the first half drew to a close to leave Spurs shell-shocked.
Spurs were much improved after the break, though, and Christian Eriksen missed a gilt-edged chance before the returning Erik Lamela – making his first Spurs substitute appearance since October 2016 due to surgeries on both hips – slid in Harry Kane to score his 11th goal against Leicester – including four in a 6-1 win last May.
Substitute Fernando Llorente should have levelled but wastefully shot wide soon after, as Claude Puel’s Leicester clung on for a three points that moves them into the top 10.
Spurs, meanwhile, have now lost three Premier League away matches on the spin for the first time since March 2014 and will be 16 points of leaders Manchester City if Pep Guardiola’s men beat Southampton on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace kept their first clean sheet of the season as they held Brighton and Hove Albion to a 0-0 draw to earn their first away point of the campaign.
The two sides renewed their top-flight rivalry after 36 years in the Eagles’ first visit to the Amex Stadium since their infamous victory in the Championship play-off semi-final of 2013, and the tension around the ground was reflected by two teams who defended in numbers.
The return of Christian Benteke to Roy Hodgson’s starting line-up, alongside Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend, ensured that Brighton could not relax and all three forwards had chances to score Palace’s first away goal in the league since April.
Former Palace striker Glenn Murray was given precious little to work with at the other end until six minutes from time, when he had a header cleared off the line, and Chris Hughton’s side drew a blank for the first time in six league games at home.
The result marked another step along the road to recovery for Palace, after making the worst start to a season in Premier League history, and they have now taken five points from their last three league games.
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