Vardy Sparks Jubilant Leicester Celebrations In Burnley Victory

Heritage
02 Mar 2021
2 Minutes
Leicester City are the visitors to Turf Moor on Wednesday to face Burnley - a fixture which evokes memories of one particularly dramatic trip to Turf Moor six years ago for the Foxes.

While City are currently sat third in the Premier League standings ahead of Wednesday's Turf Moor clash, Nigel Pearson's side were in a totally different situation in the latter weeks of the 2014/15 season as they battled against relegation.

Let's wind the clock back six years to one helter-skelter clash in April 2015...

Jamie Vardy's celebrates a goal which proved to be a winner for the Foxes in Lancashire.

Burnley 0 Leicester City 1
Saturday 25 April, 2015
Premier League
Turf Moor

Leicester City's bid to avoid an instant return to the Sky Bet Championship gathered steam on 25 April, 2015 as Jamie Vardy's close-range strike - just 59 seconds after a missed penalty for the Clarets - made it four wins in a row for Nigel Pearson's men.

Danny Drinkwater and Jeff Schlupp came in for the Foxes after a 2-0 success over Swansea City as manager Pearson stuck with the 3-5-2 system which had enabled them to enjoy a turnaround in form.

Early on, Michael Duff's header for Burnley, from a Kieran Trippier corner, was saved by Kasper Schmeichel, before Matt Taylor was handed an opportunity to put the Clarets ahead in the 59th minute.

It was the former Portsmouth man who was felled in the penalty area by Paul Konchesky and he stepped up to take the spot-kick, but it bounced back off the base of the post and out for a goal-kick.

It was undoubtedly a huge slice of good fortune for Leicester, who immediately advanced upfield. When Marc Albrighton's cross wasn't dealt with in the area, there was Vardy to bundle the ball past Tom Heaton in the opposite net to spark jubilant celebrations among the traveling Foxes faithful. 

Manager Nigel Pearson toasts the three points with the Blue Army at Turf Moor.

The win wasn't yet sealed, though, and City's lead was almost lost as Robert Huth inadvertently sent Ben Mee's cross towards his own net, but Schmeichel was able to alter his direction of travel to make an outstanding, one-handed stop.

Heaton was kept busy, too, as Andrej Kramarić played in Matty James to send a low drive towards the bottom corner, but the future England stopper was able to palm it away from danger for the home side. 

"When you look at the context of how the game developed today, we weren't at our best in the sense that our football wasn't exactly sparkling," Pearson said in his full-time assessment, after Leicester had climbed out of the bottom three.

"We started the game well enough, but it was two sides totally committed to the game and we took advantage of a disappointing moment for them in the game and we were able to score straight after.

"It's about winning games and I think the players have got rewards for the performances we've put in for a long period of time."

City: Schmeichel; Albrighton (De Laet 72'), Wasilewski, Huth, Morgan (c), Konchesky; Drinkwater (James 77'), Cambiasso, King; Ulloa (Kramarić 65'), Vardy.

Subs not used: Schwarzer, Upson, Mahrez, Wood.

Goal: Vardy 60'.

Attendance: 19,582.