Jamie Vardy’s goalscoring streak and the teams he’s punished
Jamie Vardy: Has plenty to think about
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy can equal a Premier League goals record by notching for a 10th straight game on Saturday – we take a look at his scoring streak.
Should Vardy maintain his prolific streak against Newcastle at St James’ Park, he will join Ruud van Nistelrooy as the only players to score in 10 consecutive fixtures, matching the figure set by the Dutchman in 2003 while at Manchester United.
Here, TEAMtalk takes a look back at the nine games that have put the 28-year-old Vardy on the brink of history.
August 29, Bournemouth 1 Leicester 1
It all started with an 86th-minute penalty to earn Leicester a point on the south coast. Vardy’s mazy run towards goal was halted when he was hauled down by Steve Cook inside the area and the striker picked himself up to score from the spot.
September 13, Leicester 3 Aston Villa 2
It looked like Vardy had earned Leicester another point with a late goal when he arrived in the box to poke home Danny Drinkwater’s low cross after 82 minutes to bring the Foxes level after being two goals down, but Claudio Ranieri’s side then dramatically went on to win a thrilling midlands derby.
September 19, Stoke 2 Leicester 2
For the second weekend running Leicester found themselves two goals behind but they got back into the game and Vardy earned his team a draw midway through the second half, holding off Erik Pieters and scuffing a shot beyond Jack Butland.
September 26, Leicester 2 Arsenal 5
Vardy scored twice but Leicester lost their unbeaten start to the season. His first goal was arguably his best of the campaign as the Foxes hit Arsenal with a devastating counter-attack to open the scoring. Drinkwater spotted Vardy sprinting clear down the left and launched the ball to the speedy striker who cut into the penalty area and curled a clinical finish past Petr Cech.
He grabbed his sixth goal of the season late on with another perfectly-placed curling effort after Cech had denied Andrej Kramaric.
October 3, Norwich 1 Leicester 2
Vardy set Leicester on course for a return to winning ways from the penalty spot. He went down under the challenge of Sebastien Bassong before dusting himself off to convert from 12 yards out.
October 17, Southampton 2 Leicester 2
Another Foxes fightback from two goals down and another double for Vardy. After heading home a Nathan Dyer cross midway through the second half, he latched on to a Riyad Mahrez through ball and confidently fired a shot into the top right-hand corner of the net in stoppage time.
October 24, Leicester 1 Crystal Palace 0
After a loose defensive header, Brede Hangeland then mis-hit a clearance straight to Mahrez, who sent Vardy racing through on goal for a lovely lofted finish over the advancing goalkeeper.
His 10th goal of the season saw Vardy hit the back of the net for the seventh successive Premier League fixture, adding his name to an elite group which includes Van Nistelrooy, Daniel Sturridge, Mark Stein, Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Adebayor.
October 31, West Brom 2 Leicester 3
Vardy raced on to Drinkwater’s defence-splitting pass before blasting the ball past Boaz Myhill to put Leicester 3-1 up and join just Van Nistelrooy and Sturridge as the only players to score in eight or more consecutive Premier League matches.
November 7, Leicester 2 Watford 1
Vardy stands alone as the only Englishman to score in nine successive Premier League games after netting his 12th goal of the season from the penalty spot.
After Vardy was brought down by Heurelho Gomes, Mahrez, Leicester’s usual penalty taker, was going to take the spot-kick but the Algerian handed the ball to Vardy and he blasted his shot straight down the middle of the net.