TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 SPORTS Leicester lynchpin Vardy loses magic touch LONDON: Twelve months on from his “He is not doing what he did last sea- from England’s starting XI and scored The rangy Slimani, bought from escapades have given their fans some- record-breaking Premier League scoring son and causing defenders enough only once, in a group-stage win over Sporting Lisbon to give Leicester an thing to cheer about and the Foxes will streak, Leicester City talisman Jamie problems. He is making it easy for them. Wales, as Roy Hodgson’s side were attacking focal point, is more of a target book a place in the last 16 if they avoid Vardy appears to have lost a little of his “There is a lack of effort there. You have humiliatingly eliminated by Iceland in man, whereas the lithe and speedy Musa defeat against Club Brugge. stardust. to work hard to get to the top, but you the last 16. Vardy returned to Leicester boasts a skill-set similar to Vardy’s. Vardy is still to join the European par- Last November, Vardy set a new have to work even harder to stay there.” to find the club gearing up for a cam- Continuity has therefore been ty, having contributed none of record by scoring in 11 consecutive Vardy, who turns 30 in January, fin- paign in which they would be viewed as replaced by chop and change for Vardy, Leicester’s five goals in the competition. Premier League matches, but ahead of ished last season on top of the world the team to beat, rather than relegation who has started six games alongside But he reacquainted himself with the Club Brugge’s visit in the Champions after his 24 league goals fired Leicester fodder as they had been 12 months pre- Slimani, six games alongside Okazaki sensation of scoring with a diving head- League today, he has gone 13 club to their astonishing 5,000-1 title tri- viously. No longer able to count on and three games alongside Musa. er in England’s 2-2 friendly draw against games without a goal. umph. But the close season brought opponents underestimating his team Defenders, meanwhile, have got wise Spain last week. His struggles in front of goal have with it a period of soul-searching after and coming out to attack, manager to him, making sure to deny him the It prompted Ranieri to declare he was mirrored Leicester’s slump to 14th in the Arsenal triggered a release clause in his Claudio Ranieri added variety to his space on which he thrives. “a new Vardy” and although he did not league table and prompted former contract with a 22 million pounds ($27.2 attacking options with moves for He has scored just three goals since score in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Watford, England striker Alan Shearer to suggest million, 25.6 million euros) bid. Ahmed Musa and Islam Slimani. the start of the season and none since he did win the penalty from which Riyad he may have lost some of his famous The speculation dominated England’s Leicester’s 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on Mahrez scored Leicester’s goal. hunger. “Jamie is going through a goal preparations for Euro 2016 and although ‘BANGING THEM IN’ September 10. “It’s just all about working hard and drought and is not going to get out of it Vardy ended up turning Arsenal down, Vardy forged a brilliant partnership “I just think a lot of the chances I was eventually they’ll come,” Vardy said. “You by sulking, because that is what he looks instead signing a new four-year deal with the similarly hard-working Shinji getting last year have not been there do go through spells without scoring, like he is doing at the minute,” Shearer with Leicester, he found little solace in Okazaki last season, but this term he has this year,” Vardy said last week. but eventually it will come back and wrote in The Sun recently. France. He failed to dislodge Harry Kane had to adapt to different partners. Leicester’s Champions League you’ll be banging them in again.” —AFP Five things we learned from the Bundesliga BERLIN: B Bayern Munich are not top of danger is their potential lying under the the Bundesliga for first time in 14 months, surface. Only around ten percent of an ice- new leaders RB Leipzig made history and berg is above the waterline and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dedicates his Hasenhuettl used the image in a motiva- goal to a French rapper. tion video before Friday’s 3-2 win at Here are five things we learned from the Leverkusen to inspire his side to sink their eleventh round of matches in the opponents. Bundesliga: “We tried to show the team their true potential is like an iceberg before the LEIPZIG - GERMANY’S ‘LEICESTER’? match,” said the Austrian, whose side is Unbeaten RB Leipzig have usurped unbeaten in their first 11 Bundesliga Bayern from the top of the league table games-a record for a newly-promoted and Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas team. “Much of the potential that we have Tuchel thinks the new leaders can be the is not yet on display. Leicester City of Germany. “We had an incredibly good attitude Last season, Leicester were the shock and we’re hard to beat,” he added with winners of the English Premier League and Leipzig to play second-placed Bayern in Tuchel says record-breaking Leipzig can do Munich on December 20. the same in Germany. “Last year we had the phenomenon of GLADBACH’S SCHUBERT Leicester City in England. Leipzig can go on UNDER PRESSURE exactly the same path,” said Tuchel. “I’m Guardiola’s Manchester City are Borussia convinced of that when I see them.” Moenchengladbach’s next opponents on Leipzig set a new record of 11 games Wednesday with Andre Schubert’s ‘Foals’ unbeaten for a club at the start of their first dropping fast down the league table. Bundesliga season with a 3-2 win at Bayer Gladbach’s 2-1 defeat at home to Leverkusen on Friday. Cologne on Saturday left them 11th and The result left them three points clear of winless in their last six league games dat- second-placed Bayern, who lost 1-0 at ing to the end of September. MILAN: Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic, right, scores during a Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Inter Milan, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Tuchel’s Dortmund on Saturday. The Champions League home match Italy, Sunday. —AP against City is a daunting prospect given BAYERN DEFEAT LEAVES LAHM FUMING Manchester’s 3-1 home win over Barcelona “It’s nice for the league, it’s what every- three weeks ago and head coach Schubert one wanted-but not us,” snapped Bayern’s is under pressure. Perisic strikes late to captain Philipp Lahm after Bayern’s 1-0 “Now comes the question about the defeat at Dortmund in Germany’s ‘Der coach,” Gladbach’s director of sport Max Klassiker’. Aubameyang’s goal settled a Eberl fumed to Sky after the Cologne bad-tempered clash as Dortmund claimed defeat before even asked about Schubert. their first home league win over Bayern “For me, that’s absurd. Today a team lost save Inter derby blushes since 2012. Bayern are finally spluttering who had deserved to win.” having won a record four consecutive A heavy defeat to City will do little for MILAN: Ivan Perisic struck a dramatic late lev- then produced some fancy footwork to get away with enough space to equalise. German league titles since 2012/13. Schubert’s future with Hoffenheim, eller to grab a share of the spoils for Inter Milan from Joao Miranda before firing a shot past “It’s always disappointing when you concede For the first time since September 2015, Dortmund and Barcelona, away, their forth- in an enthralling 2-2 derby draw with AC Milan Handanovic and into the far bottom corner. so late in a game but the lads should be happy Bayern are off top spot as new coach Carlo coming opponents. — AFP that saw Suso hit a brace for the hosts. Yet Inter came fighting back and a great lob with their performance, their attitude and com- Ancelotti tasted defeat for the first time in Milan, looking to move up to second behind by Candreva set up Perisic for a left-footed first- mitment was spot-on,” said Montella. 11 German league games. Juventus after Roma’s 2-1 slip-up earlier at time effort that inched wide of Donnarumma’s “They’ll have a little trouble sleeping, but To compare, his predecessor Pep Atalanta, were seconds away from securing the far post. Inter’s persistance paid off as Milan they shouldn’t. We’d be a lot more disappointed Guardiola lost his first league games on his Matches on TV local bragging rights. made the mistake of leaving Croatian star Perisic if we had 10 points less.” — AFP 29th match during his debut Bundesliga Suso broke the deadlock on 43 minutes and (Local Timings) season in 2013/14. hit a brilliant second before the hour after “Bayern are missing the fitness, the joy Antonio Candreva had given Stefano Pioli’s men and the authority in their play,” observed UEFA Champions League hope with a well-struck but controversial 53rd- Sky expert and ex-Germany captain Lothar minute leveller. Toure back in favor Matthaeus. “A lot of things which made However Milan’s celebration plans were them strong last season are missing now.” CSKA Moscow v Leverkusen 20:00 promptly cancelled as Perisic, the Nerazzurri’s beIN SPORTS 2 HD star player on the night, coolly side-footed past at Manchester City AUBAMEYANG’S PRESS-UPS Monaco v Tottenham Hotspur 22:45 teenaged goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma Aubameyang has celebrated scoring from a knocked-on corner in the first minute of MANCHESTER: There was pure elation at squad for the group stage, so will lose his beIN SPORTS 6 HD Dortmund goals with somersaults and by added time.