‘Fantastic man’ Vardy set for next fairytale chapter
Jamie Vardy wrote a new chapter in his fairytale rise from the wilderness of non-League football to playing for England, when he became the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches on Saturday.
Premier League: Vardy breaks record as Leicester draw with United
The Leicester City striker's 24th minute goal against Manchester United at the King Power Stadium eclipsed the record established across two seasons in 2003 by United's former Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and took Vardy closer to an even older record, set almost 84 years ago.
If Vardy scores against Swansea City next week, the player described by his manager Claudio Ranieri as ‘this fantastic man’ will equal the all-time top flight scoring record of 12 consecutive matches established by Sheffield United's Irish forward Jimmy Dunne in the old Division One in 1931-32.
Sheffield United said this week that widespread reports that Blackpool's Stan Mortensen set the record at 11 matches in 1950-51 were incorrect, confirming that Dunne scored 19 goals in his 12-match run between October 24 1931 and Jan.1 1932.
Vardy, 28, born in Sheffield and a boyhood Sheffield Wednesday fan, has scored 13 in his 11-match streak and 14 for the season, making him the League's top scorer and an early contender for the Footballer of the Year award, which has never been won by a Leicester player.
But right now, the speedy striker, who has broken into the England squad this year and has four caps, is firmly focused on winning matches first.
"I am obviously delighted," he told Sky Sports after breaking the record. "But the main thing was the performance and I think we put in a very good shift today.
Vardy's goal came on a counter-attack from a United corner and he added: "We have a lot of pace in the team and counter-attacking is a big advantage for us."
It certainly proved that way against United. A clearance from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel went to Christian Fuchs who ran 50 metres with the ball before feeding it to Vardy.
He timed his run to perfection, cutting through the United defence before sending his angled shot fizzing past United keeper David de Gea.
Vardy has come a long way since being convicted of assault, and placed under police curfew with an electronic tag to monitor his movements while slowly building his career away from the limelight at Stocksbridge, Halifax and Fleetwood Town.
He has played 111 times for Leicester since they gambled a million pounds on his pace and skill to bring them goals and he has not let them down with 39 so far.
His manager Claudio Ranieri described him as ‘this fantastic man’ after he scored on Saturday.
His story is quite fantastic too.
