ROY KEANE used the S-word at half-time as Tottenham’s title bid continued to fall apart.
And yes, Keane was right. This really was a Spursy performance.
Jamie Vardy made no mistakes from the penalty spotCredit: Getty – Pool
And while manager Jose Mourinho fumed on the sidelines, his former youth coach at Chelsea, Brendan Rodgers, was delighted as Leicester moved into second spot.
Tottenham, who have now picked up just one point from a possible nine, trailed to a Jamie Vardy penalty before the break after defender Serge Aurier lost the plot and needlessly fouled Wesley Fofana.
After Leicester were denied a second following a marginal offside for James Maddison, they soon made it 2-0 courtesy of an own goal from Toby Alderweireld.
For Spurs – and Mourinho – it really was one of those days.
It has been a bloody awful December for the title hopefuls with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace followed by a 2-1 loss at Liverpool in midweek. And now, this disastrous home loss meaning they are six points behind Liverpool.
There was no place in the 20-man matchday squad for Dele Alli even though he was fit.
If you needed any further proof, it is clear that Alli does not have much of a future at White Hart Lane under Mourinho
The match itself was initially dull. Spurs took 33 minutes to manage a meaningful effort but Harry Kane’s deflected free-kick was pushed away by Kasper Schmeichel.
Jamie Vardy broke the deadlock for Leicester City on the brink of half timeCredit: EPA
And home keeper Hugo Lloris had to wait even longer – 44 minutes – for anything to do. He saved comfortably after Maddison’s drive deflected off the heel of Alderweireld.
Yet Lloris did not have much of a chance four minutes into first half injury time when Vardy smacked a penalty into the net. It really was am unbelievably stupid decision by Aurier to shove Fofana in the back and there was absolutely no need to do it as there was little danger.
The only shock was that referee Craig Pawson somehow failed to see the incident and it needed VAR to intervene
Gareth Bale replaced Tanguy Ndombele at the break but within two minutes, Maddison thought he had put Leicester 2-0 up with a great strike but after a VAR check, was ruled offside. It was a really tight decision.
Giovani lo Celso then hobbled off with a hamstring problem to be replaced by Lucas Moura and Tottenham’s team now had an extremely attacking look – but they were still disappointing up front.
Toby Alderweireld put the ball into his own net to make it 2-0 to LeicesterCredit: Eddie Keogh Telegraph Media Group
After getting away with Maddison’s strike, there was no more luck for Spurs on the hour when Alderweireld was unable to get out of the way from Vardy’s header and the Belgian turned the ball into the net.
Leicester keeper Schmeichel delivered a top reflex save to keep out Heung-Min Son although the South Korean international did not strike the ball cleanly.
Mourinho will have hoped for a dramatic late Tottenham comeback but it failed to materialise.
Jose Mourinho says his team deserved to win after Spurs beaten last minute by Liverpool 2-1
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
