Days after the sacking of their manager Claudio Ranieri, Leicester City breathed life into their Premier League survival campaign with an emphatic 3-1 thrashing of Liverpool Monday night.
Star striker Jamie Vardy helped himself to two goals, with another – a sensational volley from Danny Drinkwater – as the unrecognisable Foxes romped to a 3-0 lead before Philippe Coutinho got a consolation goal for Liverpool.
Ranieri, 65, was controversially dismissed last Thursday, nine months on from Leicester’s fairytale title win, and fans honoured him with banners, masks and a smartphone light show in the 65th minute.
But his former charges paid him the greatest tribute by putting in their best performance this year to climb out of the relegation zone to 15th place.
The defeat leaves Liverpool fifth, 14 points below leaders Chelsea and a point behind fourth-place Arsenal having played a game more.
Caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare opted for pretty much the side that won the title last campaign, with Shinji Okazaki making a return to the side and Wilfred Ndidi taking the place of the departed N’Golo Kante, as the Foxes looked to wind back the clock.
After severally testing Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in the opening period, the vastly improved Foxes forged ahead in the 28th minute when Marc Albrighton’s slide-rule pass freed Vardy to guide a shot in for his first goal in eight league games.
It got better for the home fans 11 minutes later when Albrighton’s cross from the left was headed away by James Milner, only for Drinkwater to hammer in a sumptuous 25-yard shot into the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0.
Jurgen Klopp’s men briefly threatened Kasper Schmeichel’s goal through Coutinho and Emre Can, but Vardy added pepper to their wounds on the hour, leaping above Can to glance a fine header past Mignolet from Christian Fuchs’s precise cross.
Coutinho pulled one back in the 69th minute, shortly after an ode to the hugely popular Ranieri, but the Foxes were not to be denied a priceless win as they turn a new page.
