Jamie Vardy scored twice from the spot in the last 16 minutes as Leicester beat West Brom 3-0.© AFP
Leicester bounced back from a disappointing end to last season to get their new campaign off to a winning start as Jamie Vardy scored two penalties in a 3-0 win at West Brom. Belgian international Timothy Castagne opened the scoring on his debut as West Brom were given a harsh lesson on the step up in quality they face on their return to the Premier League. Leicester won just two of their last 10 games to miss out on a place in the Champions League on the last day of last season and Brendan Rodgers had voiced his frustration at a lack of funds to help their chances of success in four competitions this season.
But the one new signing the Foxes have added made a big impact as Castagne’s towering header from Dennis Praet’s cross opened the floodgates 11 minutes into the second half.
Despite Leicester’s drop-off in the second half of the campaign, Vardy still won the Premier League’s golden boot last season and the 33-year-old launched his challenge to be top scorer once more with two expertly taken spot-kicks in the final 16 minutes after he and James Justin had been felled inside the area.
Promoted
On Saturday, Arsenal kicked off the new Premier League season with a 3-0 rout of newly promoted Fulham, with debutants Willian and Gabriel Magalhaes impressing for the Gunners at Cravern Cottage.
Defending champions Liverpool also started their title defence with win, albeit a nervy one, as they overcame Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds 4-3 at Anfield, with Mohamed Salah scoring a hat-trick.
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