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.
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“Obviously I’ve matched Van Nistelrooy’s record, but at the end of the day, we got the three points and a clean sheet”, said Vardy, who had been wished well by Van Nistelrooy on Twitter prior to the game.
In all of Europe’s top five leagues, only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski have scored more goals than the Englishman, who has seemingly come from nowhere to set the Premier League alight.
England captain Wayne Rooney was absent as Manchester United ran out 2-1 winners against Watford, in a game that saw Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young both go into the referee’s book. “I hope Vardy can achieve this”.
Van Nistelrooy hit 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as being their all time European record goalscorer.
Ranieri praised the Newcastle fans for their appreciation of Vardy and likened it to the response opposing fans used to give likeable Chelsea forward Gianfranco Zola.
Leonardo Ulloa headed in the Foxes’ second goal in the 62nd minute before Japanese substitute Shinji Okazaki assured Italian manager Claudio Ranieri’s side of victory seven minutes from time.
“I couldn’t really tell you what they have been doing because there is a lot of physiotherapy terms”.
“It is a game of football we needed to win”.
They do not normally reach the top after being convicted of assault, placed under police curfew with an electronic tag to monitor their movements and by playing for minor league clubs.
“We are not at a level yet where we can have a degree of consistency week in, week out”, a shell-shocked McClaren said.
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Everton ensured Aston Villa stayed bottom of the table with a 4-0 win at Goodison Park, with Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku scoring two goals apiece. The win allowed Mourinho a few breathing space after consecutive losses to West Ham, Liverpool and Stoke left Chelsea in 16th place, for the worst start to the season by a Premier League champion.
