Tottenham 0-2 Leicester: Jamie Vardy’s penalty and Toby Alderweireld’s own goal

Tottenham handed Leicester a couple of early Christmas gifts, as Jamie Vardy’s penalty and Toby Alderweireld’s own goal took the Foxes to a 2-0 victory and second place in the Premier League table on Sunday.

At the end of an even first half, Serge Aurier, in what Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane described as a moment of “utter madness”, barged into Wesley Fofana in the Spurs box and, after a VAR check, a spot-kick was awarded, which Vardy (45+4) thumped home.

The Foxes thought they had gone two clear at the start of the second half, when James Maddison converted a long pass forward, but VAR spotted an offside. However, the otherwise impressive Alderweireld gave Leicester another helping hand on 59 minutes, turning Vardy’s header into his own net, after the striker out-jumped Moussa Sissoko.

The result compounds a bad week for Jose Mourinho’s side, who now have just one win in five Premier League games and sit fifth after Manchester United’s win over Leeds, but Leicester will spend Christmas as Liverpool’s nearest challengers, four points off top spot.

How Leicester won at Spurs…

After both teams had suffered midweek defeats in the Premier League, they went into this one looking for a response and it was Leicester who had the earlier half-chances, with Fofana heading over Maddison’s free-kick before Vardy’s volley was blocked behind by Alderweireld.

Spurs were once again conservative, eventually having their first shot at goal on 34 minutes through a deflected Harry Kane free-kick, which sparked an encouraging spell, with the striker heading over from Heung-Min Son’s corner shortly after.

But it was Leicester who went in at the break smiling, when Aurier needlessly barged into Fofana as he tried to pick up a knock-down from Harvey Barnes in the Spurs box in first half injury-time.

The foul was initially missed but after a VAR check referee Craig Pawson checked the pitchside monitor and pointed to the spot, from where Vardy crashed in a low shot down the middle. That was Leicester’s eighth converted penalty in the Premier League this season, three more than anyone else.

It was the first time Tottenham had been behind in the Premier League at half-time this season and they were almost instantly 2-0 down after the restart, when Maddison fired in from James Justin’s long pass forward – but a VAR check spotted a narrow offside infringement.