Vardy Scores 199th Goal as Leicester Beat Southampton

Jamie Vardy moved one goal away from a Leicester City milestone as the already-relegated Foxes defeated bottom side Southampton 2-0 at the King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.

Vardy, who announced earlier this month that he will leave Leicester after 13 years when his contract expires this summer, scored his 199th goal for the club to set them on their way to a first victory since January 26th, ending an 11-match winless league run.

The former England striker opened the scoring in the 17th minute, sweeping a shot into the roof of the net – Leicester’s first Premier League goal at home since December 8th, prompting ironic cheers from the home support. Jordan Ayew added a second goal just before halftime, drilling home a volley after his own initial free-kick rebounded conveniently off the Southampton wall.

The first half also featured a bizarre stoppage lasting around 11 minutes after referee David Webb, officiating his first Premier League match, was accidentally caught in the face by Ayew and had to be replaced by fourth official Sam Barrott. During the stoppage, Vardy cheekily picked up and blew the injured referee’s whistle.

Southampton offered little threat and saw a potential consolation goal correctly disallowed in the second half when Paul Onuachu was ruled offside before Mateus Fernandes eventually poked the ball in. Vardy was denied his 200th goal for the club by a good save from Aaron Ramsdale from a free-kick.

The goal was Vardy’s 144th in the Premier League, moving him level with Robin van Persie in 14th place on the all-time list. He now has three games remaining to reach the 200-goal mark for Leicester and also needs just two more appearances to reach 500 for the club.

While the win provides some cheer for Leicester fans in a “miserable” season, as Vardy described it, Southampton remain stranded on 11 points. They need at least one more point from their final four difficult fixtures (against Manchester City, Everton, and Arsenal) to avoid equalling Derby County’s record-low Premier League points tally set in 2007-08. The defeat guarantees the Saints will finish bottom of the table.