JAMIE VARDY was slammed by Leicester fans after appearing to laugh with Erling Haaland… despite trailing 3-0 after 25 minutes.
The Leicester striker, 36, cut an isolated figure as Manchester City ran riot at the Etihad.
John Stones volleyed home emphatically after just five minutes and Haaland made it two from the penalty spot on 13.
And the Norwegian goal machine scored his 47th goal of a remarkable campaign with 20 minutes of the first half still remaining.
Haaland, 22, latched on to Kevin De Bruyne’s through ball – his 100th Premier League assist – and fired past Foxes goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
But rather than sulk or try and motivate his team-mates as one of the senior stars, Vardy was spotted by the Sky Sports cameras enjoying a joke with his No9 counterpart.
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Haaland once labelled Vardy as the best striker in the world and identified him as one of his inspirations.
But the jovial forward’s behaviour did not go down well with his disgruntled Leicester fans, especially amid their relegation battle.
One wrote: “Vardy laughing and joking with Haaland after he makes it 3-0. Are you taking the p***?!”
Another sarcastically said: “And Vardy stood laughing with Haaland. Great stuff lads.”
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A third added: “Not a fan of Vardy laughing and joking with Haaland after going 3 down in 25 mins and staring relegation in the face.”
One typed: “All Vardy does now is point. Oh, and have a little laugh with Haaland after the third. Sad.”
And a final user commented: “Vardy laughing with Haaland at 3-0 down when we’re getting relegated. I’d let him off if he scored more than one goal all season.”
That solo strike in 30 Premier League appearances came in the 4-0 thrashing at Wolves in October – a far cry from his memorable hat-trick at the Etihad in a 5-2 win in 2020.
And he had no chance of adding to that tally, with new boss Dean Smith seeing enough after just nine touches in 45 minutes.
Ironically, both Vardy and Haaland were substituted at half-time – albeit for very different reasons – as Pep Guardiola rested his star striker for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Ex-Citizens man and Vardy’s replacement Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back as Leicester rallied in the second half but went down 3-1 to stay 19th.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
