Leicester, November 29 (BUS): Leicester City crushed Watford 4-2 in the Premier League in heavy snow, reducing visibility and making playing conditions difficult at King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Watford manager Claudio Ranieri, who led Leicester to their only league title in the 2015-16 season, was given a standing ovation by the home side’s fans but it was on a chilly afternoon as former striker Jamie Vardy scored twice.
With this win, Leicester climbed to the provisional ninth place with 18 points from 13 games, while Watford retained 16th place with 13 points.
The match started in relatively clear conditions, and Leicester took an early lead from Watford’s error when William Trost-Ekong slid under a long ball, allowing Leicester’s James Madison to slip back and beat goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.
Watford equalized after 14 minutes after Emmanuel Dennis was tripped in the penalty area by Wilfried Ndidi and Joshua King did not miss a penalty in the victory over Kasper Schmeichel.
But as the snow increased, Vardy fired two goals up ahead in eight minutes, both made by Madison, as Bachmann cleverly fired first before cleverly returning from the near post with a corner kick.
“It’s different (the weather), you see with the referee having to stop him. Those are things you have to deal with. You have to stay professional and we did that,” Vardy told Sky Sports.
“At one point their goalkeeper was trying to overturn it with the referee but the stadiums have under-floor heating and we weren’t worried.”
A blanket of snow turned the lush green field white in the second half, and with visibility low, Dennis flicked the ball off Timothy Castagne who was tracking back at the hour mark to go with Schmeichel one-on-one, making it 3-2 with a controlled finish.
However, Leicester regained their two-goal lead minutes later when Harvey Barnes scrambled forward on a counter-attack and smashed the ball for Ademola Lookman to slot the ball into the empty net.
King said Watford lost to a team that showed more determination but the Norwegian striker complained about the snow, which forced the referee to stop the match in the second half so staff could clear the snow from the lines.
“It’s awful to play, you have snow on your chest and you feel heavy,” King said. “I’ve never seen a match like this before. I couldn’t see anything but it was the same for both sides.”
Bad weather forced the cancellation of Burnley’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur before kick-off.