Leicester Dominates Watford 4-2 in Claudio Ranieri’s Return to King Power Stadium

Jamie Vardy scored twice within a ten-minute span for Leicester as they cruised to a 4-2 win over Watford as former manager Claudio Ranieri, now with Watford, returned for the first time since his departure. He received a series of applauses before the home side got to business on the pitch, finding the back of the net by the 16th minute.

“We conceded four goals so we can do much better but they won the match because they were more aggressive and more determined than us,” Ranieri said. “It was Christmas Day conditions. It wasn’t the pitch, we lost because we made mistakes and Leicester scored the chances they had.”

Ranieri is well regarded in the area given his guidance of Leicester to the 2015-2016 Premier League title.

“I don’t like this. I want my players to fight a little more,” Ranieri said, reacting to the loss.

Vardy became just the second player to score a Premier League goal against a team managed by Ranieri after having played under the Italian. Jeffrey Schlupp (February 2019, Crystal Palace vs Fulham) was the other.

“We start to look more like ourselves again,” Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers said.

James Maddison has now scored (16’) in back-to-back matches for the first time since January. Leicester sit five points from the top four, with plenty of momentum moving forward after this weekend’s win.

“It was great, you can see his quality, he was a real inspiration for us,” Rodgers said. “We always have a point to prove every single day. For him it was looking at his game, he knows this is a game and a level where you are always looking to prove yourself. You can never be calm with that, you always have to be intense. You are seeing the work, not just with him but the confidence returning to the team. It’s not about the one player, it’s about the team but he was excellent today.”

Leicester won the possession battle 57-43; had a 62 percent duels success rate, and a 58 percent aerial duels won.

“It was a really good performance, we were a real threat going forward,” Rodgers added. “We were playing against a dangerous team, they scored five at Everton, four in their last game against Manchester United. It’s an important three points.”

Watford will look to bounce back next week (1 December, Wednesday) against Chelsea who come into that fixture following a 1-1 draw vs Manchester United this weekend.

Leicester City will look to stay in the win column against Southampton in a few days (1 December).