Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy essentially accused of cheating

Watford Goalkeeper Ben Foster subtly accused Leicester City player Jamie Vardy of cheating, after he gave away a penalty in their 2-0 Premier League defeat:

It was the type of move the Blue Army wants to see their beloved Leicester City team produce: breakdown the opponents’ attack, then look for the outlet; a quick breakaway ignited. In this instance, it was Papy Mendy whom received the ball deep into his own half. Luckily, the perfect option, Ben Chilwell, presented himself on the left.

England’s left-back moved up the flank swiftly and as stylishly as ever, then played a beautiful key pass into the path of Jamie Vardy’s run – timed liked clockwork. Inevitably, once the goalkeeper – in this case Watford’s Ben Foster – makes his laboured move off the goal line, a typically envisioned scenario arises.

What happens next is the former England striker gets his toe to the ball before the ‘keeper’s hands, taking it to the left, along with the Leicester City forward’s body, slightly. Foster made contact with Vardy around knee level – following several reviews by Foxes of Leicester – knocking him off-balance while travelling at some pace.

Any touch there would derail a man with Vardy’s speed capacity; it is simple physics. Also clear, is the 35-year-old connected with his younger opponent – Foster did not claim not to have brushed the 31-year-old. Yet he felt ‘aggrieved’, post-match.

Following the game on Saturday, Leicester Mercury quote Foster as saying:

"“I tried to pull my arms out-of-the-way and Jamie Vardy’s leg comes out at an unnatural angle to clip me considering he was running in a straight line.”“That is Jamie Vardy for you, he is very clever at it and fair play to him. I feel a little aggrieved for the first goal.”– Ben Foster"

Did Leicester City’s Vardy cheat?

Simply, no he did not. There was contact – undisputed, even by Foster. Vardy is not just entitled to go down via unfair contact, but he would not have been able to stop himself crashing to the ground. Obviously, the attacker can be hurt in these scenarios; as can, in the opposite sense, the stopper – if an opponent slides in on a gathering goalie, injury does occur. Both are brave.

Does Foster have a point about the incident? Sort of. He did say “fair play” to Vardy for being “clever’. Which is an extremely veiled or subtle and polite way of accusing someone of cheating, or at the least bad sportsmanship or gamesmanship.

In addition, the ex-Three Lion stated Vardy stuck his leg out to the side in an intentional manner, looking for contact. The player was not running in a straight line by that point: his clever touch of the ball takes him off course; not to mention, away from the hapless goalkeeper.

The only significant aspect in Foster’s favour is the angle the striker would find himself at if not upended, it is slightly more difficult to finish than a penalty. This is because defenders are sprinting back to the goal-line and the chance presents itself on the finisher’s weaker left-foot.

Could Vardy have stayed on his feet? Well, the only person whom can answer this truly, is the man himself. This writer believes the Fox is one of the most honest players, verbally and physically, in the Premier League. He wears his heart on his sleeve, so to speak. Is he looking for a penalty? Maybe, but if the foul comes, who cares. We won – fairly.

Unfortunately, Vardy may be sidelined for quite some due to a recurring groin injury which reportedly may require surgery, according to Telegraph‘s John Percy. That may hurt Leicester City’s chances at attaining a festive period European qualification place. Although, May is the business end of that predicament.

Fulham entertain Leicester City on Tuesday evening in their Premier League meeting. At the moment, Claudio Ranieri’s Cottagers are at the bottom of the division, while the Foxes are eyeing Bournemouth’s sixth standing.