Watford 2-1 Leicester: Andre Gray strikes late to hand Brendan Rodgers defeat in first game in charge

Watford 2-1 Leicester: Jamie Vardy had equalised for the Foxes after Troy Deeney's opener but the Hornets won it in stoppage time

Brendan Rodgers named Leicester City manager

Brendan Rodgers suffered disappointment on his Premier League return as his first game in charge of Leicester ended in a 2-1 defeat at Watford after Andre Gray’s injury-time winner.

Rodgers is back in England’s top flight for the first time since October 2015 when he was sacked at Liverpool following his appointment as Claude Puel’s replacement earlier this week.

And it looked like being a respectable start to his Foxes reign as Jamie Vardy’s 10th goal of the season cancelled out Troy Deeney’s early header.

But the game ended in the same way as it started as Gray struck in the closing moments to inflict an opening defeat on Rodgers and deliver a fourth win from five for the Hornets.

Rodgers will now eye his first win next Saturday with a home game against Fulham.

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Key Points

• Troy Deeney put the Hornets ahead 
• Jamie Vardy equalised for the Foxes 
• But Andre Gray denied Brendan Rodgers a point in his first game with a late winner

[3 March 2019 10:57 · Kishan Vaghela]

Hello, and welcome to our coverage of another action-packed day of Premier League action, with plenty of banter along the way to go with it.

Three huge games take place today, with the Merseyside derby taking place later in the afternoon following Chelsea's visit of Fulham.

However, first up is Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge of Leicester City at Watford and we'll have team news from Vicarage Road very soon. 

[3 March 2019 10:59 · Kishan Vaghela]

He looks in erm.... high spirits.

[3 March 2019 11:00 · Kishan Vaghela]

And here are those teams from Vicarage Road as promised

[3 March 2019 11:07 · Kishan Vaghela]

A reminder of how the preview to Rodgers' first game went yesterday

[3 March 2019 11:11 · Kishan Vaghela]

I know I will be....

[3 March 2019 11:17 · Kishan Vaghela]

Jokes aside though, this is a huge first game for Brendan Rodgers after he was appointed following the sacking of Claude Puel.

There were some pretty distasteful banners at Neil Lennon's first game in charge of Celtic yesterday, but he will hope to keep the Foxes' fans on side for a lot longer by rebuilding their fortunes.

The East Midlanders have won just twice in the league this calendar year, the latest of which came against Brighton in midweek, a game for which Rodgers was in attendance.

But they'll need more than that if they want to arrest their gradual slide and move into the top half of the table again, but there's a tough start in waiting with eight-place Watford their hosts today. 

[3 March 2019 11:21 · Kishan Vaghela]

And it just got a little tougher....

[3 March 2019 12:01 · Kishan Vaghela]

1 min: Watford 0-0 Leicester City

And we're off. Rodgers is back, but will it be a happy return to the league?

[3 March 2019 12:04 · Kishan Vaghela]

4 min: Watford 0-0 Leicester City

What a save from Schmeichel that is!

Morgan makes a mess of clearing a free-kick and it falls to Mariappa, whose firm strike is blocked at point-blank range by the Dane, before Morgan recovers to block Deulofeu's rebound effort.

[3 March 2019 12:05 · Kishan Vaghela]

GOAL! Watford 1-0 Leicester City (Deeney 5')

That's not the start Brendan Rodgers would have wanted.

They escaped unscathed with the last free-kick, but the whip on this one from Deulofeu means all Deeney has to do is to get a flick on the ball to beat Schmeichel.

There's a hint of offside here, but we'd be opening a can of worms again after yesterday.