Vardy's Norwich Finish 'Absolutely Perfect', Says Cottee

- Former Leicester City striker Tony Cottee praises Jamie Vardy's strike at Norwich City
- The Foxes favourite also credited Ricardo Pereira's work in the build-up
- City left Carrow Road with all three Premier League points
- Cottee was speaking on the Extra-Time podcast, available HERE

The Foxes ensured they headed into the international break on the back of a victory as Vardy's perfectly-executed early finish was followed by Marc Albrighton's winner at Carrow Road, after Teemu Pukki's penalty had got the Canaries back on level terms.

In a similar phase of play to the one which enabled Vardy to open his account in 2021/22 and see off Wolves on the opening day, Ricardo Pereira was the architect on the right flank. Analysing the eighth-minute strike in East Anglia, Cottee was impressed by the technique of the finish. 

"It was another fantastic goal, wasn't it?" the ex-City striker said. "Ricardo did brilliantly. He obviously read what Williams was going to do. He nicked in, showed fantastic pace, and he's not just smashing the ball across the goal and hoping for the best. He's getting his head up and looking at the options.

"Jamie, for that Wolves goal, made a fantastic run to the near post. For this one, he's again using all his experience. He just holds out. I've spoken about this before. You don't always have to run into a space. If the space is there, stand still.

"Or just put the brakes on and then wait for the ball to come to you. There was enough pace on the ball, but I can't emphasise enough how difficult the finish was and how easy Jamie made it look. The way he just stroke it in made sure it just curled away from the 'keeper right into that inside side-netting.

"It was absolutely perfect, but it was a difficult chance because the ball did come at pace. The pace is on the ball, so you've got to get a good connection, but sometimes you see players thrash at it. They're trying to hit it hard and it goes over the bar, or they mis-kick it.

"It was perfect technique from Vardy. With his body, he got a nice contact on it, and he just side-footed it. It was an absolutely brilliant finish. As usual, I'm not surprised because that's how good he is."

There was also time for reaction to Leicester's group stage draw in the UEFA Europa League, which has pitted them against Napoli, Spartak Moscow and Legia Warsaw. Cottee is excited to see the Foxes tackle three European specialists and pointed to reasons for optimism.

"The guideline is 10 points and it doesn't really matter how you get them," he added. "If you get to that 10-point mark, you know that you're pretty much guaranteed to get through in that competition. It could have been a lot easier, we know that, it is a tough group.

"You can't say anything other than it being a tough group, but Leicester are good enough to progress from this group. There's no doubt about that. The one thing that stands out for me is that Leicester are probably going to have to play their best team in all of these games.

"You sometimes get a group where there's a couple of teams where you can rest a few players. I think, particularly in the early games of this group, you've got to play your best team. On a positive note, in terms of the away games in Warsaw and Moscow, at least they're not in November and December.

"If you're playing in Moscow in December, I know it isn't going to be warm, that's for sure! It's good to get those two away games out the way in the early part of the six matches. There are some positives to take out of it, but I don't see any reason why Leicester should be afraid.

"If Leicester are on their game, they've got some quality players. They've got all those defenders to come back into the squad. That will help things along."