- Timothy Castagne - 56'
- Jamie Vardy - 74' Pen, 84' Pen
Vardy scores two penalties as Leicester beat West Brom 3-0
Two goals from Jamie Vardy and a debut strike from new signing Timothy Castagne saw Leicester City start the season with a 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion, who capped a bad weekend for promoted teams in the Premier League, becoming the third to lose on the opening day.
West Brom well but as the first half wore on they struggled to hold onto the ball with Leicester maintaining 65% possession.
- Insider Notebook: Greenwood, Foden face England axe
The best chances of the half fell to Vardy and midfielder Harvey Barnes.
A pass from Ayoze Perez on 35 minutes sent Vardy running at the West Brom defence where he let off a blistering shot that Sam Johnstone did well to punch away.
Leicester broke the deadlock on 56 minutes with a well worked goal. Dennis Praet and Perez put in a few cautious probes before the ball was whipped out to James Justin who lobbed the ball into Praet who was running down the inside left of the box. His cross found the head of Castagne who nodded it home from close range on his debut.
Leicester, who finished fifth last season, had a goal disallowed for offside four minutes later. A volley from Barnes hits Vardy on the back and was poked home by Perez but the flag went up straight away for offside.
Vardy was given the opportunity to redeem himself on 72 minutes when he was brought down in the area and the referee awarded a penalty. His strike was far from clean but he sent Johnstone the wrong way and slotted the ball home on 74 minutes.
A clumsy challenge from Dara O'Shea on Justin gave Vardy the opportunity to bury a second penalty on 84 minutes. In a carbon copy of the first spot-kick, Vardy sent Johnstone the wrong way giving Leicester a 3-0 win.
"It's massive for us, especially with how we finished last season and not having long to turn it around. We are delighted for three points," Vardy told Sky Sports.
"I practice penalties every week so I knew where I would hit those. I've enjoyed playing here over the years and scoring goals so that celebration was for the West Brom fams at home."
Game Information
English Premier League Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | +16 | 31 |
| Manchester City | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | +5 | 23 |
| Chelsea | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | +9 | 22 |
| Arsenal | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | +9 | 22 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | +5 | 22 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | +14 | 19 |
| Nottingham Forest | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | +2 | 19 |
| Aston Villa | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Newcastle United | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | +2 | 18 |
| Fulham | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 18 |
| Brentford | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| Manchester United | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 15 |
| West Ham United | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -6 | 12 |
| Everton | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | -7 | 11 |
| Leicester City | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -8 | 10 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -8 | 9 |
| Ipswich Town | 12 | 1 | 6 | 5 | -10 | 9 |
| Crystal Palace | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -7 | 8 |
| Southampton | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | -15 | 4 |
Premier League News