The funny thing is Jamie Vardy was not supposed to feature. He had not played since limping out of a pre-season friendly against Villarreal a month ago with a knee injury but volunteered to play with Leicester desperately short of options in attack. Had this game kicked off and not capped the return of the Premier League then he would not have made it. By the end here, however, Vardy, who turns 38 in January, left his indelible mark, cementing his status as one of the game’s most reliable goalscorers and most iconic pantomime villains.
After Vardy stunned Tottenham by scoring an unlikely equaliser approaching the hour, he saluted the Leicester supporters, puffed out his chest and blew kisses to the crowd. But his animated exchange with the Spurs fans housed in a pocket of the stadium upon being substituted upstaged his celebration. As Vardy was roundly jeered by the travelling supporters he took great pleasure in pointing to the Premier League badge on the forearm of his shirt, a nod to Leicester’s extraordinary title win in 2016. As if to labour the point he made it abundantly clear that it is 1-0 to Leicester in that department.
