As he was substituted Jamie Vardy goaded the Tottenham Hotspur fans by making a 1-0 gesture. The score was 1-1 but the Leicester striker was referring to the Premier League title he has. Tottenham, of course, have none – pushing Leicester close in 2015-16 only to finish third.
Vardy again denied them here. There is still that edgy competitiveness and, despite being 38 next January, there is also that predatory instinct in front of goal. Just as it looked like Leicester would be overwhelmed on their return to the top flight, Vardy scored with their first attempt to earn a precious point.
They were transformed after he struck. Their talisman gave them that belief and, remarkably, they could even have gone on to win this. But how Spurs will rue their missed chances – just as they did last season – and that was summed up with just 20 seconds of the nine added minutes to go as substitute Dejan Kulusevski headed wastefully wide from a free-kick.
On the touchline head coach Ange Postecoglou slumped forward, bent double. His body language said it all. And who could blame him?
In effect, this was the tale of two strikers. Dominic Solanke, Spurs’ new £65 million centre-forward, played well but wasted opportunities and that proved to be the difference.
“He’s back in the big time,” Leicester posted on social media after Vardy’s goal and he is undeniably something of a force of nature. A freak – and that is meant as a compliment. Vardy has now scored 103 Premier League goals since turning 30 and he is not going quietly into the night.
To rub it in, he pointed to the Premier League badge on his sleeve as he walked off to a standing ovation and there were a few choice words for Spurs’ combative centre-half Cristian Romero. To add further salt to Tottenham’s wound, the Argentinian had lost Vardy for the close-range header that cancelled out another header, by Pedro Porro, that had given Spurs the lead.
At half-time Spurs should have been out of sight and the talk would have been of how Leicester could possibly compete in the Premier League with an ageing Vardy leading their attack. That was captured in the first minute when he fleetingly had the chance to run clear from the halfway line but was quickly caught by Porro, 13 years his junior. Not so long ago Vardy would have been away and Leicester would have been a goal up.
So do not write him off. No way. As he returned for the second half there was a swig of Red Bull for Vardy and a bit of a swagger. He was not taking this lying down and he set the tone for Leicester. What a difference a goal makes. After it they were a different beast; before it they looked almost terrified.
Leicester will surely still go into the transfer market – they cannot rely on Vardy, not at his age, despite his defiance. “I was fit as a fiddle until I got to about 65 minutes,” he later said and that is the point. To get the best out of him now, Leicester need back-up or to bring Vardy off the bench.
But his presence, his belief, his belligerence makes a difference. As does his desire to play. Injury has prevented Vardy from having a full pre-season and Leicester manager Steve Cooper revealed that had this fixture been on Saturday, rather than Monday, the striker would not have made it. “He did what he does,” Cooper said.
There is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to fear. That was Vardy’s message and he has been here before, over-turning expectation and defying the odds. And his age.
Only Teddy Sheringham, at 39 years and 133 days, for West Ham United, has been older than Vardy in scoring in the opening round of games in the Premier League. Only Mohamed Salah – with nine goals – has more than Vardy in the first weekend of the season.
Vardy could have equalled that record. After scoring he was released on the left side of the penalty area, only for Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to repel his shot. The roof would have lifted off the stadium if that had gone in and, even so, an air of trepidation and a little fear was replaced by a sense that Leicester are back where they believe they belong.
The lengthy added time followed a horrible injury suffered by Rodrigo Bentancur with the Spurs midfielder appearing to be left unconscious after a clash of heads at a corner. He was given oxygen and taken off on a stretcher but was responsive and talking in the dressing room afterwards. “But obviously it’s a head injury and I’ll leave it in the hands of the medical team now,” Postecoglou said.
The Australian lamented the “poor decisions” and “lack of composure” shown by his own vaunted front three – Solanke, Son Heung-min and Brennan Johnson – and he was right as James Maddison, on his first return to Leicester, ran the first half. “We didn’t get the reward our football deserved,” Postecoglou claimed. That also was true. But only until Vardy scored. After that it was a different game and that is the difference he can – still – make and what he means.