Jamie Vardy became Leicester City’s oldest European goalscorer as they beat AEK Athens to make it two wins from two in the Europa League.
The 33-year-old gave them the lead from a penalty after he was fouled by keeper Panagiotis Tsintotas.
The Foxes looked comfortable when Hamza Choudhury doubled the lead with a smart side-footed finish.
But Muamer Tankovic gave AEK hope after ghosting in behind the Foxes defence moments after coming off the bench.
The former Fulham player almost equalised two minutes later but smashed his 10-yard shot over the crossbar.
Cengiz Under, on his first start for Leicester, almost restored the two-goal lead but his curling effort hit the woodwork.
In the end they would not need another goal.
Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers revealed before the game that defenders Jonny Evans and Timothy Castagne are injured, with the latter likely to be out until after the November international break.
Vardy is the key for Leicester again
Vardy’s pace and finishing makes such a difference to Leicester and it was evident again in the Greek capital.
This was his return to the starting line-up after a calf injury – although he did climb off the bench at the weekend to score the winner against Arsenal.
He made his own piece of history in Athens as he raced on to James Maddison’s through ball and went round the keeper, who took him down.
Tsintotas got a touch to Vardy’s spot-kick but it was too powerful to keep out.
He takes Wes Morgan’s record as the oldest player to score for Leicester in Europe. Vardy is 33 years and 292 days, whereas Morgan was 240 days younger when he scored in the Champions League against Sevilla in March 2017.
The former England striker has won (four) and scored (five) more penalties in all competitions than anyone else who plays in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
Maddison was impressive too, and his corner led to the second goal. AEK Athens could not clear and Wesley Fofana got the final touch before it ran to Choudhury, who confidently finished.
AEK have not won a home game in a European group stage in 13 games over 10 years, but they did make the Foxes work hard for their win after Tankovic’s lively second-half appearance.
Player of the match
VardyJamie Vardy
AEK Athens
Squad number5Player nameNedelcearu
Squad number17Player nameTankovic
Squad number28Player nameShakhov
Squad number53Player nameMacheras
Squad number88Player nameVasilantonopoulos
Squad number11Player nameAnsarifard
Squad number22Player nameInsúa Zapata
Squad number44Player nameSabanadzovic
Squad number20Player nameMantalos
Squad number6Player nameKrsticic
Squad number18Player nameNélson Oliveira
Squad number10Player nameLivaja
Squad number24Player nameSvarnas
Squad number2Player nameBakakis
Squad number3Player nameHélder Lopes
Squad number1Player nameTsintotas
Leicester City
Squad number9Player nameVardy
Squad number19Player nameÜnder
Squad number3Player nameFofana
Squad number10Player nameMaddison
Squad number5Player nameMorgan
Squad number1Player nameSchmeichel
Squad number20Player nameChoudhury
Squad number11Player nameAlbrighton
Squad number8Player nameTielemans
Squad number28Player nameFuchs
Squad number2Player nameJustin
Squad number33Player nameThomas
Squad number24Player nameMendy
Squad number15Player nameBarnes
Squad number26Player namePraet
Squad number14Player nameIheanacho
Line-ups
AEK Athens
- 1Tsintotas
- 2BakakisSubstituted forVasilantonopoulosat 86′minutes
- 24Svarnas
- 5Nedelcearu
- 22Insúa ZapataBooked at 73minsSubstituted forMacherasat 86′minutes
- 28ShakhovSubstituted forSabanadzovicat 86′minutes
- 6KrsticicBooked at 59mins
- 10LivajaSubstituted forTankovicat 45′minutes
- 20MantalosBooked at 21mins
- 3Oliveira Lopes
- 11AnsarifardSubstituted forOliveiraat 45′minutes
Substitutes
- 15Laci
- 17Tankovic
- 18Oliveira
- 26Hnid
- 30Athanasiadis
- 40Mitaj
- 44Sabanadzovic
- 52Christopoulos
- 53Macheras
- 70Botos
- 88Vasilantonopoulos
- 99Theocharis
Leicester
- 1Schmeichel
- 3Fofana
- 5Morgan
- 28FuchsSubstituted forThomasat 45′minutesBooked at 78mins
- 11Albrighton
- 8Tielemans
- 20ChoudhurySubstituted forMendyat 66′minutes
- 2Justin
- 19ÜnderSubstituted forPraetat 66′minutes
- 10MaddisonSubstituted forBarnesat 74′minutes
- 9VardySubstituted forIheanachoat 70′minutes
Substitutes
- 12Ward
- 14Iheanacho
- 15Barnes
- 17Pérez
- 24Mendy
- 26Praet
- 33Thomas
- 35Jakupovic
Live Text
Match ends, AEK Athens 1, Leicester City 2.
Second Half ends, AEK Athens 1, Leicester City 2.
Foul by Anel Sabanadzovic (AEK Athens).
Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Petros Mantalos (AEK Athens) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City).
Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Nenad Krsticic.
Substitution, AEK Athens. Anel Sabanadzovic replaces Yevhen Shakhov.
Substitution, AEK Athens. Stavros Vasilantonopoulos replaces Michalis Bakakis.
Substitution, AEK Athens. Theodosis Macheras replaces Emanuel Mariano Insúa Zapata.
Efstratios Svarnas (AEK Athens) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Dennis Praet (Leicester City).
Attempt saved. Hélder Lopes (AEK Athens) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Offside, Leicester City. Luke Thomas tries a through ball, but Kelechi Iheanacho is caught offside.
Luke Thomas (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Michalis Bakakis (AEK Athens) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Luke Thomas (Leicester City).
Foul by Wes Morgan (Leicester City).
Nélson Oliveira (AEK Athens) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Leicester City. Harvey Barnes replaces James Maddison.
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