How a perfect chance spelled the end for Jamie Vardy's perfect run of goals

Fifteen minutes into Leicester's match against Swansea, Jamie Vardy had the greatest chance to score any striker could hope for.

He was free and clear of the defenders, onside, in full control of the ball, in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, with time and space to do whatever he wanted to do.

Even the context was perfect: though still early in the game, the Foxes were already 1-0 up (thanks to a handball goal from Riyad Mahrez), lessening the pressure still further.

And what did he do? He struck a tame shot at a comfortable height that Lukasz Fabianski stopped with ease.

Now, Fabianski is a decent, experienced shot-stopper. He held his ground well, standing tall and trying to look imposing. Even his all-red get-up must have been quite the distraction in a stadium full of fans draped in the muted blue or white tones of the two sides.

[MATCH REPORT: Mahrez scores hat-trick as Leicester go two clear at the top, but Vardy run ends]

Yet still, it was an easy chance. One that you'd expect a rusty centre-half back to convert should he somehow find himself up the other end in his first match back from a lengthy injury lay-off. So for a player of Vardy's skill and confidence, coming into the match on one of the hottest scoring streaks in the history of English top-flight football?

You'd have put your house on him to slot it home.

So what happened? Only Vardy himself will ever know. Actually, maybe not even he will know, because analysing what goes wrong in such moments asks big questions of your self-knowledge and honesty. For a player whose game is built on lethal instincts, it might not actually be that straightforward to break down the moment when his attempt to keep the golden streak going ground to a halt.

In all probability, therein lies the answer: Vardy's game this season, enjoying a purple patch that is such a deep and luscious shade of mauve that even Real Madrid are rumoured to want him, has been all about making the best of split-second chances that come his way. Deadly finishing at the end of fast moves. The instincts of a streetfighter, laying out at a group of assailants who had jumped him in the alleyway.

But what was needed on Saturday, 15 minutes into the match, was the opposite: a cold-blooded, contract killer who can take all the time in the world, and still not get jittery when the time comes to pull the trigger.

The chance was almost too easy. No doubt Vardy had the time, as he bore down over the ball with the prospect of scoring for a 12th straight match, to think about the lush apartment in a classy Madrid suburb, complete with its own pool and views of the hills.

Perhaps he was thinking of the headlines in the papers, the discussion on Match of the Day.

He might not have been thinking about any of those things, but instead thinking about whether to put the ball in the bottom right, or top left, or perhaps try a chip.

But it is the thought itself, the self-consciousness, that is devastating to this type of predator.

There's a scene in the classic film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in which the Kid is asked by Butch to shoot a stone. He aims carefully, and misses; then asks if he is allowed to move while shooting, and hits the stone several times in a row.

It's counter-intuitive, sure. But having too much time to take careful aim and think about what you're doing is a bad, bad thing. Just ask any golfer who has ever stood over a three-foot putt, no matter whether it's to win a fiver from a friend or to win the US Open. If you have time to think, you have time to feel nerves - and nerves are never your friend when it comes to fine motor skills.

After that chance went begging, you sensed that the spell was somehow broken. While he had half-chances he never really came close to scoring, and there was an air of inevitability as the whistle went with Leicester's star striker goalless in a league match for the first time since August 22.

The irony is that Vardy's performance was outstanding, and unselfish. Deep in the second half he even laid on a perfect assist to help Mahrez to his hat-trick (that despite Mahrez earlier going for goal when he had an equally clear-cut chance to set up Vardy with an open goal). "It was fantastic that Jamie passed to Mahrez to score," said manager Claudio Ranieri afterwards. And it was. It really was.

As, of course, is scoring in 11 games in a row. Leicester were running rampant and could have won by more, and if they keep that going then there is every reason to think that Vardy will pick himself up next week and start on a brand new goalscoring streak.

Even if that happens, it won't get into double figures this time. And it probably won't earn him a move to the Bernabeu. But if it keeps Leicester's magical season going for a few more months - and helps nail down the £90,000-a-week pay deal mooted in Saturday's papers - then Vardy will probably be a very happy man.