The Sunday Post (Newcastle)

Slimani at the double as Euro stars Leicester shine

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RECORD-SIGNING Islam Slimani capped a dream Premier League debut as his brace powered Leicester to victory over Burnley.

The Alger ia str iker scored either side of the break to clinch a 3-0 win and seal a wonderful week after the Foxes’ debut Champions League victory at Club Brugge.

Ben Mee’s own goal wrapped up the win for the Foxes who played with the swagger which saw them romp to the title last season.

Slimani, a £ 29million signing from Sporting Lisbon, added the brute force to internatio­nal team-mate Riyad Mahrez’s trickery as the pair put Burnley to the sword.

The Clarets fell asleep to allow Slimani to score before and after the break and Steven De four wasted their best chance in the first half.

The Foxes were coming off the back of Wednesday’s historic 3-0 win at Club Brugge and manager Claudio Ranieri had warned his side their European success could not be used as an excuse for a poor performanc­e against the Clarets.

Heeding his words, the Foxes began brightly as Daniel Amartey planted a volley well over and Jamie Vardy miscued a header with Burnley pinned back at the King Power Stadium. The Clarets have not beaten Leicester in six years and Jeff Hendrick, making his full debut after a move from Derby, did not look like bucking that trend when he dragged a shot wide after 19 minutes.

The Foxes were comfortabl­e with goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler untroubled.

As expected, Burnley posed more of a threat than meek Club Brugge but they relied on Tom Heaton to keep them level after 25 minutes.

Riyad Mahrez, who scored twice against Brugge, tricked his way past Mee and Heaton needed to be alert at his

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