Leicester 1-1 Tottenham: Player ratings as Vardy earns Foxes point on Premier League return

Jamie Vardy's header helped Leicester City earn a point on their return to the Premier League as they held Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw on Monday night.

Pedro Porro had nodded a dominant Spurs into a first-half lead by converting James Maddison's delicious cross.

However, the visitors couldn't capitalise on their many created chances and Vardy made them pay by converting unmarked at the back post.

How the game unfolded

A tribute was paid to former Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare pre-game following his passing at the age of 60 earlier this month.

The home crowd were jubilant and rowdy upon their side's return to the Premier League but it was the visiting supporters who had more to shout about during the opening throws.

Maddison's corner was flicked on by Rodrigo Bentancur and Wilfred Ndidi had to be on high alert to hook the ball away from danger. They followed that up with a fizzing shot from Brennan Johnson which needed dealing with from Mads Hermansen.

Summer signing Dominic Solanke was thrown into the starting lineup and had an early sight of goal when he got on the end of Son Heung-min's cross, but once again Hermansen was in a good position to deal with it.

Leicester legend Vardy had made himself available despite being a pre-match doubt through injury, but the Premier League title winner had little to do as his side struggled to get a foothold in the game.

The Foxes were hanging on for dear life but couldn't avoid conceding any longer when Porro struck. It was Maddison who provided the delivery, curling in a cross for the Spaniard to ghost through and nod in the goal Spurs deserved.

It was one-way traffic for the majority of the first half but Spurs couldn't capitalise on their dominance and were made to pay when the 2015/16 champions got back on level terms shortly after the break.

The ball flashed across the face of goal and ended up at Abdul Fatawu's feet, allowing the Ghana international to float it to the back post where an unmarked Vardy was lurking to nod in with ease.

Tottenham had carved out chance after chance but were much less incisive in the second half and couldn't break down a Leicester side suddenly buoyed by their equaliser and a crowd vociferously urging them to get forward in search of another goal.

It nearly came when Vardy sprang through again, though this time his left-footed strike was smothered by Guglielmo Vicario.

Leicester might have snared a winner late on when substitute Lucas Bergvall gifted possession to Stephy Mavididi. He clipped it towards Ndidi who met it but saw his header turned behind by Vicario.

It has been a fixture filled with late goals in recent years but none arrived this time, forcing Leicester and Tottenham to share the spoils at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester City player ratings (4-3-3)

GK: Mads Hermansen - 6/10 - Made a couple of stops that he would have been expected to make.

RB: James Justin - 7/10 - Had a few issues with Son's dribbling but got more comfortable as the game wore on.

CB: Jannik Vestergaard - 6/10 - Often forced into some last-ditch work and struggled with Tottenham's many forward runners.

CB: Wout Faes - 5/10 - Showed more jitters at the back compared to Vestergaard and must show some improvement on his return to the top flight.

LB: Victor Kristiansen - 6/10 - Nice and combative at left-back, winning a couple of tackles.

CM: Wilfred Ndidi - 7/10 - A little sloppy in the first half with some late fouls but much more assured and commanding in the second 45.

CM: Harry Winks - 6/10 - Got a game against his former club but wasn't a match that allowed him to play to his strengths.

RW: Abdul Fatawu - 7/10 - Showed good awareness to pick out Vardy for the equaliser and got back to help out his defence.

AM: Facundo Buonanotte - 6/10 - Didn't get a whole load of chances on the break but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

LW: Bobby De Cordova-Reid - 6/10 - Another determined worker, but once again a quality chance didn't fall for the winger.

ST: Jamie Vardy - 7/10 - Played despite being an injury doubt and made good of the big chance he got by getting Leicester level again.

Substitutes

SUB: Stephy Mavididi (79' for Vardy) - 6/10

SUB: Boubakary Soumare (79' for Buonanotte) - 6/10

SUB: Kasey McAteer (86' for De Cordova-Reid) - N/A

Subs not used: Danny Ward, Ben Nelson, Hamza Choudhury, Memeh Caleb Okoli, Ricardo Pereira, Tom Cannon.

Manager

Steve Cooper - 7/10 - Had a fair few of his side's flaws exposed as Tottenham threatened to run away with the points, but the spirit of their comeback must be commended.

Tottenham Hotspur player ratings (4-3-3)

GK: Guglielmo Vicario - 7/10 - Made an important stop to deny Vardy at 1-1 and another to keep out Ndidi.

RB: Pedro Porro - 7/10 - Showed Spurs have many different threats by getting on the end of Maddison's cross to head in. Showed his danger in the final third but was often found wanting one-v-one.

CB: Cristian Romero - 6/10 - Was unaware of Vardy's presence at the back post when Leicester equalised.

CB: Micky van de Ven - 6/10 - Drove forward with good intent at points and showed great pace against some pretty nippy Leicester attackers.

LB: Destiny Udogie - 5/10 - Final ball was lacking throughout from the Italian, who was also a little late in a few challenges.

CM: Pape Sarr - 6/10 - Played in Solanke with a nice pass and showed great desire to run beyond Leicester's back four.

CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 6/10 - Wasteful with a good chance close to goal before having to be substituted in the second half with a head injury.

RW: Brennan Johnson - 6/10 - Went close with a whizzing volley but his influence waned in the second half before his withdrawal.

AM: James Maddison - 7/10 - Lovely cross was well headed in by Porro. Pulled the strings expertly at his former club but quality control began to evade him late on.

LW: Son Heung-min - 6/10 - Some poor touches scuppered a few golden opportunities for Spurs' captain.

ST: Dominic Solanke - 6/10 - Looked sharp and willing to press on his Tottenham debut. Should have done better with some of his opportunities, hitting them a little too centrally.

Substitutes

SUB: Archie Gray (78' for Bentancur) - 6/10

SUB: Lucas Bergvall (78' for Sarr) - 7/10

SUB: Timo Werner (78' for Johnson) - 6/10

SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (78' for Maddison) - 6/10

SUB: Djed Spence (90+2' for Porro) - N/A

SUB: Richarlison (90+2' for Son) - N/A

Subs not used: Brandon Austin, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin.

Manager

Ange Postecoglou - 5/10 - His side should have secured all three points with the quality opportunities they created and Postecoglou will be bitterly disappointed to have gifted the hosts an equaliser.

Player of the match - Abdul Fatawu (Leicester City)

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