LONDON: Leicester bounced back from a disappointing end to last season to get their new campaign off to a winning start as Jamie Vardy scored two penalties in a 3-0 win at West Brom. Belgian international Timothy Castagne opened the scoring on his debut as West Brom were given a harsh lesson on the step up in quality they face on their return to the Premier League. Leicester won just two of their last 10 games to miss out on a place in the Champions League on the last day of last season and Brendan Rodgers had voiced his frustration at a lack of funds to help their chances of success in four competitions this season.

But the one new signing the Foxes have added made a big impact as Castagne’s towering header from Dennis Praet’s cross opened the floodgates 11 minutes into the second half. Despite Leicester’s drop-off in the second half of the campaign, Vardy still won the Premier League’s golden boot last season and the 33-year-old launched his challenge to be top scorer once more with two expertly taken spot-kicks in the final 16 minutes after he and James Justin had been felled inside the area.

Everton 1 Spurs 0
Everton ended a miserable run of form against Tottenham Hotspur as Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half header earned them a 1-0 away victory in their Premier League opener yesterday. Carlo Ancelotti gave debuts to three new signings including Colombian James Rodriguez but it was Sheffield-born Calvert-Lewin who gave Everton a dream start to the season as he headed powerfully home in the 55th minute.
Tottenham also gave debuts to right back Matt Doherty and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but were disappointing as they suffered a first defeat by Everton since 2012. Their best chances came before the break as Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford denied both Dele Alli and Doherty. Tottenham lacked imagination after Everton went ahead and the visitors held out with relative ease. — Agencies