13 highlight’s of Leicester City’s amazing season so far

Fans of Leicester City Football Club could be forgiven for thinking they’ve been living in a dream world for the past seven months or so.

Despite the sickening last-minute defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, the Foxes are still flying high at the top of the Premier League table and are already nailed on for a spot in the footballing Holy Land that is the Champions League next season.

Amazing as it sounds, only qualifying for the Champions League would seem like a failure right now for City – which is a mark of just how crazy this season has been so far.

With the Leicester squad taking a week-off from Premier League action this week, we thought now would be a good time to look back on some of the highlights from the season so far – an idea that was sparked by seeing this hilarious video that went on YouTube last week:

Take a look at our highlights below, and let us know yours in the comments at the bottom…

Signing N’Golo Kante

After losing the influential Esteban Cambiasso ahead of the new season, there were very real fears that Leicester’s midfield might lack the quality required for the Premier League.

When City signed the relatively unknown N’Golo Kante from French side Caen in early August, those fears weren’t exactly put to rest – but as the season progressed it became clear that Leicester had unearthed an absolute diamond.

Now fans and pundits are calling Kante the ‘signing of the season’, and with stats like the below it’s hard to argue:

Going from relegation favourites to title contenders

The bookies don’t always get it right!

At the start of the season City were 3/1 to go down, now in February we have almost the same odds – but not for relegation, we’re 11/4 to actually WIN the Premier League.

Mahrez starts the season with a brace

The season got off with a bang with a comfortable 4-2 victory over Sunderland at the King Power.

It was still too early to start dreaming of a title challenge, but with two goals from Riyad Mahrez capping a great team performance it was certainly a promising start to the campaign.

Coming back from 2-0 down to beat Villa

Leicester continued their promising start to the season and were unbeaten going into the home game with Midlands rivals Aston Villa on 13 September.

The unbeaten run looked to be in danger though, as Villa surged to a 2-0 lead with less than half hour of the game remaining.

That famous team spirit and desire kicked in though, and City laid seige to the Villa goal and went on to win 3-2 with goals from Richie De Laet, Jamie Vardy (naturally) and Nathan Dyer (who bravely threw himself into the huge frame of Brad Guzan to nick the winner).

This hard-fought and thrilling victory was the moment when City fans really started to believe something special could be on the cards this season.

Vardy’s dramatic equaliser at St Mary’s

The unbeaten run may have gone to an Alexis Sanchez-inspired Arsenal at the King Power, but City were still on a roll and looking to cement themselves as serious top 4/title contenders.

At St Mary’s though, it looked like City’s campaign was going to hit another blip as Southampton raced to a 2-0 half-time lead.

Jamie Vardy had other ideas though, and after pulling a goal back on 66 minutes he ran through on goal in injury time with a chance to equalise. Was there ever any doubt where that ball was going?

Ranieri buys the team a pizza

Although City were flying high in the league, one stat was still irking the boss – the team had failed to keep a clean sheet over the first two months of the season.

Ranieri’s unorthodox solution to this was to promise the team a pizza if they were able to keep a clean sheet. The motivation finally worked when City got over the line with a tight 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on 24 October.

Mahrez helps Vardy’s record bid

Much has been said of Leicester’s team spirit, and it was in full display here as Mahrez – at the time Leicester’s designated penalty taker – handed the ball to Jamie Vardy so the in-form striker could maintain his bid to break the record of scoring in consecutive Premier League games.

Wonder if he managed it…

Vardy equals the record

Jamie Vardy got himself, and Leicester City, into the record books in fine style away at Newcastle. A smart finish (after bamboozling defender Vurnon Anita with a cheeky sidestep) that equalled Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in ten consecutive Premier League games.

Now the pressure was really on – could a former non-league footballer playing for little old Leicester City really break such a monumental record…?

Yes, he could!

The scale of Vardy’s achievement is still hard to fathom, and anyone who was part of the charged King Power atmosphere that night will probably never forget the moment Vardy broke Man U legend Ruud van Nistelrooy’s celebrated record – right in front of the Man U fans.

It all sounds like something out of a movie script – which is probably why there’s rumours of a Hollywood film based on Vardy’s ‘rags to riches’ story in the works.

Mahrez stunner gets Mourinho sacked

Jamie Vardy was deservedly making all the headlines, but Leicester’s other shining star Riyad Mahrez was also having the season of his life.

Nothing typifies the skill and match-winning qualities of the Algerian better than his stunning winner against faltering champions Chelsea – who sacked manager Jose Mourinho soon after.

Robert Huth 1 – 0 Tottenham Hotspur

This was the part of the season Leicester were supposed to start ‘fading away’.

Everyone was waiting for the familiar grind of the festive season to stop Leicester’s small-squad in its tracks: injuries, suspension, fatigue, burn-out – they were all supposed to cause Leicester to freefall down to their ‘natural’ position somewhere in mid-table.

After defeat at Anfield and a lacklustre draw at home to Bournemouth, it seemed the pundits may have been right and no-one expected a win in the league at White Hart Lane.

As so often this season though, City revelled in their underdog status and produced a hard-working performance of grit and determination which was capped off with a wonderful looping header by Robert Huth.

Vardy’s goal of the season contender

Nothing more to say on this, just watch it again… and again… and again….

Leicester play Man City off the park

Although they are sitting top of the table, most fans, pundits and ‘experts’ still saw Leicester’s position as something of a ‘fluke’. After the game at the Etihad though, that all changed.

City were imperious against Man City, with two goals from Huth and another stunner from Mahrez helping the Foxes to a 3-1 win.

What are your highlights of the season so far? Let us know in the comments below…

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