Jamie Vardy was hailed as a “great one” by Ruud van Nistelrooy after he scored his 200th goal for Leicester City on his farewell appearance for the club.
Vardy, who famously fired Leicester to a stunning Premier League title in 2015-16, was given a guard of honour ahead of the Foxes’ final home game of the campaign against Ipswich Town.
The two clubs will both return to the Championship next season following relegation, but Vardy gave the home crowd reason to celebrate in an historic 2-0 victory at the King Power Stadium.
Vardy opened the scoring in a game that marked his 500th appearance in the 28th minute, latching on to James Justin’s pass and firing through Dara O’Shea’s legs and beyond Ipswich goalkeeper Alex Palmer.
Kasey McAteer doubled Leicester’s lead in the 69th minute, with Vardy withdrawn 11 minutes later to soak in the adulation from the home fans. He will not play in next Sunday’s finale at Bournemouth.
“If you score your 200th goal on your 500th appearance, then you are a great one,” Van Nistelrooy said of Vardy.
“He has been a unique player and person for this football club. In years to come we will realise we were part of this moment.
“He’s a character as well, there’s a story and an edge to him. He’s a great captain as well. We were motivated to do well for Jamie, but also to get more momentum after the Southampton win and the point against Nottingham Forest. It’s some positives towards the end of the season.”
Brentford 2-3 Fulham
There’s still a chance that eighth place could be a European spot despite Crystal Palace claiming a spot in the Europa League with their FA Cup final win over Manchester City.
It is dependent on Chelsea winning the Conference League and finishing outside the top five, and Fulham cut the gap to eighth-placed Brentford with a thrilling 3-2 win over their west London rivals.
They took the lead in the 16th minute when Raul Jimenez’s header proved too strong for Mark Flekken, only for Bryan Mbuemo to respond with a smart finish into the bottom-right corner six minutes later.
Mbuemo missed a chance to make it 2-1 from the penalty spot as he was denied by Bernd Leno in the 28th minute after Joachim Andersen brought down Kevin Schade, but Brentford did take the lead two minutes before the break through Yoane Wissa’s tap-in.
But two goals in the space of a three-minute second-half spell sealed it for Fulham, Tom Cairney’s fine header followed up by a wonderful long-range strike from Harry Wilson to move Fulham a point behind Brentford.
Brighton and Hove Albion face Liverpool on Monday and Bournemouth visit Manchester City on Tuesday, with both sides having a chance to leapfrog Brentford ahead of next Sunday’s final day.
