Jamie Vardy inspires late comeback as Leicester draw with Brighton

Where there’s Jamie Vardy, there’s hope. Ruud van Nistelrooy has joked with reporters to stop pointing out that the Leicester City legend stole his record for scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League games in 2015, but right now he is delighted the veteran striker is providing a goalscoring edge at the start of a new era at the King Power Stadium.

As Brighton coasted toward the 2-0 victory that would have sent them back into the Champions League places, with 86 minutes on the clock, it was Vardy who volleyed home to inspire hope of a comeback that had never looked on as Brighton created chance after chance, just as West Ham United had done on Tuesday night here.

Van Nistelrooy sent Bobby De Cordova-Reid on with half an hour to play and it was his deflected shot that fell to Vardy to score. Then in the first minute of added time, the former Fulham striker was on hand to sidefoot in from close range his first goal for Leicester after Vardy squared him an easy ball.

So that is four points from two games – Vardy having kickstarted the win over West Ham – for Van Nistelrooy who at this stage may be glad to be a lucky general if not yet proven a good one.

Conceding 31 shots on goal in the hard-earned victory over West Ham had set Van Nistelrooy the challenge of making his new team harder to cut through. But the Leicester manager, while maintaining the starting shape of 4-4-1-1 out of possession, must still have seen the writing on the wall as Brighton edged towards their half-time advantage.

Fabian Hürzeler’s side may have had two days fewer to recover from their midweek exertions – the defeat at Fulham was only their third of the season – but with four changes to their starting XI, they looked the more incisive throughout the first period.

João Pedro should have done better than side-foot wide his left-footed back-post volley after Tariq Lamptey’s cross from the right and, although Yasin Ayari’s long-range shot was easily saved by Mads Hermansen, the ease with which Brighton broke over halfway through Pedro after Leicester’s own corner was disarming.

Hermansen was tested again, flying to his left to tip aside Pervis Estupiñán’s curving shot. But Kaoru Mitoma should have opened the scoring when, teed up unselfishly by the recalled Evan Ferguson, he lifted his head at just the wrong moment and the ball over the bar from 10 yards out.

So it was no surprise when the visiting team gained the lead. Lamptey switched the play from right to left whence his opposite wing-back Estupiñán overhit his cross back beyond the far post. Lamptey collected the ball, cut back inside on to his left foot and proceeded to curl a beauty into the far top corner.

It was his first Premier League goal since November 2020, a record that was placed in context five minutes later when, let in on goal by Jordan Ayew’s mistake, the Ghanain opted to square rather than shoot on entering the corner of the six-yard area.

Leicester finally mustered their first effort on goal a minute before the break when Victor Kristiansen crossed from the left and James Justin thudded in a header that Bart Verbruggen dived to save.

With Leicester attempting to play without the ball in a more compact shape, to prevent their opponents from playing through them, Brighton always knew they could get out by using a big switch. Lamptey and Estupiñán, although playing either side of only two centre-backs on this occasion, still attacked as wing-backs would, safe in the knowledge that Hürzeler’s midfield engine room had them covered.

Brighton’s sustained progress is still remarkable to the outsider. On a day when Dan Ashworth, their former technical director and mastermind of so many good moves during his three-year sojourn on the south coast, was leaving Old Trafford in acceptance that implanting his methods at Manchester United may not be working, his old ship continues to steer a steady upwards course.

Yankuba Minteh, a £35m transfer from Newcastle United in the summer after impressing while on loan at Feyenoord under Arne Slot last season, came on for Pedro midway through the second period and promptly added to Brighton’s lead within 10 minutes.

Mats Wieffer, also signed from Feyenoord in the summer, played a long channel ball for the Gambian to hustle his way past Kristiansen and slot home. That looked like game set and match for Brighton. But Van Nistelrooy has revived Leicester’s spirit and Vardy had something to say about that.