Stan Collymore was trouble from first to last again yesterday, trouble that is for a Sunderland team who could not handle the threat from this remarkable footballer whose hat-trick on his Leicester home debut included two of the finest goals you could wish to see over the course of 90 minutes.
It was a truly spectacular performance from a complex man who enjoys a colourful lifestyle off the field and who awoke yesterday to discover that a Sunday tabloid was revealing details of an alleged all-night drinking session in the team hotel the night before Leicester's League Cup triumph last week. After this display the Sunderland players will testify that Collymore doesn't need a fire extinguisher or a large bar bill to wreak havoc.
At the finish he walked off clutching the match ball, submerged amid the back-slap congratulations of his team-mates and with an angry riposte aimed at the press. "It's just part of the topsy-turvy world of Stan Collymore," he said later. "I have not played a lot of football over the last 12 to 18 months and this is a superb feeling." It was some vindication of Martin O'Neill's gamble in taking on a personality that Aston Villa could not wash their hands of quickly enough. He combined superbly throughout with Emile Heskey, who also contributed a goal.
Yesterday Collymore was under no pressure from the Leicester faithful, who were still buoyed by their Wembley victory over Tranmere. His first goal came from the direct route.
Gerry Taggart's free-kick was launched high and long and before it reached Heskey, Collymore was already making a run off him. As the ball bounced he needed no second invitation and a crashing volley zipped past Thomas Sorensen before the goalkeeper could move.
Leicester were two ahead by the break, Neil Lennon emerging strongest from a challenge with Chris Makin and a low pass gave Heskey the chance to drive between the goalkeeper's legs.
It was somewhat harsh on a visiting side who had twice hit the woodwork. Kevin Phillips suggested there was still life in the contest with a sharply taken goal on the turn but there was no upstaging Collymore. From a square-on position, 15-yards out, as he received Lennon's diagonal pass he somehow managed to apply both pace and direction to his header for a memorable second.
After Niall Quinn had squeezed home a second Sunderland reply Collymore completed his hat-trick.
Leicester: Flowers, Sinclair, Taggart, Guppy, Savage, Elliott, Izzet, Lennon, Eadie (Oakes 56), Collymore, Heskey. Subs Not Used: Gilchrist, Arphexad, Impey, Cottee. Booked: Lennon, Heskey. Goals: Collymore 17, Heskey 34, Collymore 60, 87, Oakes 90.
Sunderland: Sorensen, Holloway (Summerbee 45), Makin, P Butler, Craddock, Rae, Roy (Oster 71), Schwarz, Kilbane, Quinn, Phillips. Subs Not Used: Marriott, Williams, Gray. Booked: Quinn, Kilbane. Goals: Phillips 53, Quinn 75.
Referee: N Barry (Scunthorpe).
