Tottenham striker Richarlison celebrated his first domestic start of the season by heading into the opener against Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
Brazil international Richarlison took advantage of generous defending to meet Pedro Boro's cross with a brave header to break the deadlock after 33 minutes and set Tottenham on course to end a three-game losing streak in the league.
That ambition was enlisted 58 seconds after the restart when Jamie Vardy fired in from close range for the second attempt to bring Leicester level, with Bilal Al Khans pampering their opponents' misery by striking from distance four minutes later.
“They get the overload on the right side and it's a great cross,” former England goalkeeper Rob Green said. BBC Radio 5 Live Richarlison goal.
The pressure was mounting. There is nothing Leicester can do. Richarlison can't miss – he's a good header. “
Richie 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ze9rqdknf9
– Tottenham Hotspur (@spursofficial) January 26, 2025
Richarlison stats
Richarlison has appeared in just 10 of his squad's 34 matches in all competitions as part of another injury-hit season in 2024/25.
The 27-year-old's absence has been felt keenly by manager Ange Postecoglou, who was She suffers from a series of injuries Among his team.
The former Everton Hotshot returned for his first league appearance in almost three months on January 15, featuring 12 minutes in 2-1 defeat at Arsenal.
He scored in the 92nd minute on his return to Goodison Park on 19 January, but the goal was a miss as the visitors lost 3–2 to their relegation-threatened opponents.
They fared better against the Foxes, going close to Richarlison's opener when Junior Heung-Min's cross was tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
Bilal in battle âš” pic.twitter.com/jnrvgulkmd
– Leicester City (@lcfc) January 26, 2025
Tottenham vs Leicester
Tottenham won 3-2 at Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday – when Richarlison also started – but went six games without a win in the league, including five defeats.
Leicester are in worse form, having lost their previous seven league games and last winning the trip to Rock Bottom Southampton on October 19.
New manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy already appears to be under pressure, although his players started brightly at Tottenham before they were seen by familiar defensive failures.
Van Nistelrooy's words in the period had an immediate impact as Vardy switched from Bobby de Cordova-Reid's left-wing delivery.
Alkhanos then put the side that started day two ahead, curling in a brilliant footwork effort.
