Kevin De Bruyne missed a penalty as Manchester City squandered the chance to close the gap on Liverpool on Sunday while Tottenham’s Harry Kane celebrated joining the Premier League’s 150 club.
A win at the Etihad would have taken the Reds to the summit but the battle between the two dominant powers of recent seasons ended 1-1.
That meant Leicester clung onto top spot after leapfrogging Spurs, who beat West Brom 1-0, after a 1-0 win of their own at home to Wolves.
In the late evening kick-off, Aston Villa hammered Arsenal 3-0, condemning Mikel Arteta’s men to their fourth defeat in six league games
Vardy scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 15th minute – following a VAR check – after Wolves’ Max Kilman handled Dennis Praet’s cross in the area.
He missed another spot kick late in the first half but Brendan Rodgers’ team held on to take all three points.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said Rodgers, whose side travel to Liverpool after the international break
“I have always said failure is learning and if anyone says us not getting into the Champions League last season was failing then, OK. For us it was about learning and developing.”
Aston Villa, who climbed to sixth place after their win against Arsenal, went ahead at the Emirates when Bukayo Saka turned into his own net.
Two goals from Ollie Watkins in the second half put the game beyond Arsenal, leaving Arteta disappointed with his team’s showing.
“We performed below our standards and I have to say it’s the first time I’ve seen us play and we weren’t a team,” he told the BBC.
“I take full responsibility. We didn’t start well enough, we got away with VAR for an offside situation but we lost all the races, the duels and we were sloppy on the ball.”