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Three things we learnt from Leicester’s 1-0 victory over FC Porto
Dragon Slayer Slimani already a big hit at the King Power
Signing another prolific goalscorer and playing them immediately up front to partner another isn’t a move that always works out. Moves such as Robbie Keane’s transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Liverpool spring to mind in recent memory, or maybe Dimitar Berbatov’s move to Manchester United, the Bulgarian never really holding down a regular place consistently despite finishing one season as leading scorer in the Premier League. With that in mind, the question was raised as to whether Algerian international Islam Slimani could fit as the ideal strike partner for the already prolific Jamie Vardy. Thus far however, the question is why the issue was ever up for debate.
The man dubbed the “Dragon Slayer” for his consistent scoring streaks against FC Porto during his time with rivals Sporting Lisbon returned to haunt his old adversaries again, with a diving header from a teasing Riyad Mahrez cross to net his fifth in three outings against the Portuguese club and his third goal in four games for Leicester, all of which have been headers.
The £29million record signing appears to have bedded in well, and whilst Jamie Vardy is a known prolific scorer, his inclusion has cushioned the impact of Vardy’s recent lack of goals and has appeared to free up the England international to play without the added pressure of being the club’s main source of goals. The addition of the Algerian has also provided an effective alternative to Japanese international Shinji Okazaki, whose immense work rate next to Vardy deserves great credit, but he doesn’t always repay that with the goals his displays deserve.
No such problem exists with Slimani however it seems, and after his impressive start to life at Leicester he will continue to justify his record £29 million club transfer fee if he keeps continuing his rich vein of form and already it seems that Foxes supporters are taking to him. With all the added ramifications of a Champions League campaign, every club needs more than one way of sourcing goals in what will be a long and testing season, and Ranieri appears to have found an astute solution in sweeping to sign the Algerian.