Leicester City fought back from a goal down to thrash Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 at the King Power Stadium.
Rodrigo Bentancur gave the visitors the lead in the 14th minute when he bundled the ball home from a corner-kick.
Spurs failed to build upon their promising start, and Leicester showed their mettle to level the score less than 10 minutes later through Nampalys Mendy.
James Maddison quickly put the Foxes in front, and a third was added before the break by Kelechi Iheanacho.
The visitors were ultimately unable to produce any sort of response in the second half, and ten minutes after having a goal ruled out Harvey Barnes got his name on the scoresheet, wrapping up a commanding victory.
After recovering from gall bladder surgery, Tottenham boss Antonio Conte returned to the touchline for the away meeting with Leicester.
The Italian made three changes to his side, which saw January signing Pedro Porro make his debut for the club.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Rodrigo Bentancur celebrates scoring their first goal with Son Heung-min on February 11, 2023
Conte could not have wished for a better start as his side took the lead in the 14th minute, when Leicester failed to deal with a corner-kick, which was eventually tapped home by Bentancur from close-range.
After thrashing Leicester 6-2 in the reverse fixture, Tottenham seemed to be on their way to another positive result.
The Foxes, however, had other ideas and they turned the game on its head with two goals in as many minutes.
Bentancur could only clear a Leicester corner-kick into the path of Mendy, and the midfielder opened his account for the season in some style, thumping the ball past the helpless Fraser Forster, who was deputising for the injured Hugo Lloris.
Having wrestled back momentum, the hosts surged into the lead, with Maddison sweeping the ball home after being teed up by Iheanacho.
The Nigeria international has been in fine form of late, and he had a goal of his own to celebrate on the stroke of half time.
Eric Dier unwisely stood off Iheanacho, who placed the ball into the bottom corner to score in a third consecutive game.
Given the intensity of a blistering opening 45, there was an inevitable drop-off after the interval, which suited the hosts.
Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates scoring their third goal with James Maddison on February 11, 2023
What was turning out to be a miserable afternoon for the visitors, took a turn for the worse when Bentancur was forced off with an injury issue.
With Spurs looking like a shadow of the side that beat Manchester City last weekend, Iheanacho was presented with the chance to grab his second goal of the game, but he was unable to keep his header on target.
The Foxes did have the ball in the net not long after Iheanacho’s miss, however, Harvey Barnes’s well-taken effort was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
Although he had to wait 10 minutes, Barnes finally put his name on the scoresheet to make sure of all three points.
The 25-year-old collected the ball on the edge of the box, and given the time to pick his spot, he placed the ball past an outstretched Forster.
As a result of the victory, Leicester move up to 13th place in the Premier League table, while Spurs remain in fifth.
Tottenham will have to pick themselves up for Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with AC Milan, while Leicester will prepare for an away game against Manchester United next weekend.
SOURCE: SPORTMOLE
