Jamie Vardy’s hat-trick dealt an early blow to Manchester City’s hopes of wrestling back the Premier League title as they conceded three penalties in a 5-2 defeat to Leicester, while Newcastle’s late spot-kick to snatch a 1-1 draw at Tottenham sparked fresh debate over the handball rule.
City were without a host of first-team regulars due to injury and coronavirus infections, but the deficiencies at the back that undid their title defence last season were again exposed by the pace and finishing prowess of Vardy as a Pep Guardiola team conceded five for the first time in his coaching career.
Leicester stormed to the top of the league, but had to come from behind to extend their perfect start to the season as Riyad Mahrez’s stunning strike against his former club opened the scoring after just four minutes.
“The problem was we put extra pressure on ourselves to score…
