It is being widely reported in the UK that Leicester City will appeal Jamie Vardy’s straight red card for a two-footed tackle against Stoke City on Saturday.
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Vardy, 29, was sent off in the first half by referee Craig Pawson after he lunged in on a Stoke’s Mame Biram Diouf with both feet off the ground.
At half time Leicester’s Claudio Ranieri was irate about the decision to send the Foxes striker off and tried to speak with the referee, however the fact that 10-man Leicester fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 somewhat mellowed Ranieri’s post-game reaction.
That said, Sky Sports is reporting that Leicester will appeal the automatic three-game ban for Vardy which would see him miss the home game on Boxing Day against Everton, plus games on Dec. 31 against West Ham and a trip to Middlesbrough on Jan. 2.
For what it’s worth, Vardy was nudged by Stoke right back Glen Johnson just before he launched into the two-footed challenge, however with Pawson not sending off Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo for a very similar tackle last week the official was under the spotlight to get the decision right.
Even if Vardy was pushed off balance by Johnson, that didn’t mean he had to go hurtling in to Diouf with both studs showing. Even though he got the ball he also got plenty of Stoke’s forward and the decision by Pawson seems likely to be the correct one.
If Leicester do appeal the charge then they run the risk of losing Vardy for an extra game. Is that a risk worth taking with the Foxes just three points off the bottom three going into a busy slate of games?
