Ranieri thrilled as Vardy returns to form

Vardy had failed to score in the defeat to Hull City and draw with Arsenal, but Ranieri was always confident in the England international prior to his powerful finish from Danny Drinkwater's long pass.

Published : Aug 28, 2016 01:48 IST

Ranieri was frustrated by Leicester's penalty miss and revealed he would speak to Mahrez and Vardy, both of whom he sees as the club's penalty taker.
Ranieri was frustrated by Leicester's penalty miss and revealed he would speak to Mahrez and Vardy, both of whom he sees as the club's penalty taker.
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Ranieri was frustrated by Leicester's penalty miss and revealed he would speak to Mahrez and Vardy, both of whom he sees as the club's penalty taker.

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri says he knew Jamie Vardy would return to form ahead of his strike in the 2-1 victory over Swansea City.The Premier League champions won for the first time in 2016-17 at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, with Vardy's first-half strike getting them on the way.

Leicester captain Wes Morgan made it two after the break before Riyad Mahrez had a penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski, with Leroy Fer's late header proving only to be a consolation.

Vardy had failed to score in the defeat to Hull City and draw with Arsenal, but Ranieri was always confident in the England international prior to his powerful finish from Danny Drinkwater's long pass.

Ranieri said: "It's good for Vardy to score again. The goalscorer always scores goals. "Some seasons a little more and some seasons a little less, but the goalscorer never forgets the way. 

"The points were important and the performance impressed me a lot as well. The first half was outstanding for us and we have to score more goals. 

"In the second half we missed a penalty and the opponent got some confidence. It was a tough match and the weather was unbelievable – it was like water polo!"

Ranieri was frustrated by Leicester's penalty miss and revealed he would speak to Mahrez and Vardy, both of whom he sees as the club's penalty taker.He said of Mahrez: "I'm very disappointed [he missed]. They are the penalty takers - him and Vardy. He wanted to take and that's fine. 

"I will speak with both of the lads. I don't know [if we will change]." Vardy believes the victory was coming after Leicester's solid performance in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal.

"We were disappointed with the first game of the season but got a decent draw last week and played well," the striker told BBC Sport. "We just wanted to keep improving. To go two goals up and then hang on at the end, we got what we deserved.

"The ball was struggling to move in the puddles but that's English weather for you. We are just delighted to get the three points."

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