Leicester 3-1 Norwich: Stephy Mavididi stars with a goal and an assist at the King Power as the Foxes recover from a nightmare month to return to the top of the Championship

As a youngster dropped out of Arsenal’s academy as a teenager, Stephy Mavididi received a message from Gunners legend Thierry Henry with instructions on how to achieve his dream of being a Premier League footballer. “Be brave, believe in yourself,” he said.

It has been a long road back to the top for Mavididi, now 25, through loans in the Football League and training alongside Cristiano Ronaldo when he was in the Juventus Under 23 team. But Henry recommended him to French club Dijon and he hasn’t looked back since.

Now an integral member of Enzo Maresca’s Leicester squad, he arrived from Montpellier and could soon complete his Premier League ambitions. A goal and an assist here helped the Foxes stop the rot of a nightmare month in which they won just one of their previous six.

Mavididi stars in this renewed Leicester team that, until recently, had taken this league by storm. He scored alongside the increasingly improving Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. But there is still room for the old guard, seen by substitute Jamie Vardy securing the three points in injury time.

Leicester were 14 points clear of third place in the Championship on Valentine’s Day but started Easter Monday outside the automatic promotion places. However, reports of his demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated with this emphatic victory over high-flying Norwich.

The King Power Stadium shook before kick-off as fans tried to steer their team away from a spectacular collapse. But any positivity soon turned to anxiety as Norwich took advantage of a statuesque defense to take an early lead.

It was a similar goal to John Stones at Anfield last month, when he snuck in at the near post to finish off Kevin De Bruyne’s low corner. This time it was Marcelino Núñez shooting in from a set piece, with Gabriel Sara beating the Leicester defenders to put his team ahead.

That was a goal set in South America, with a Chilean helping a Brazilian, and the Championship is proving to be a division full of international talent. But it was three Englishmen who led Leicester to victory.

Norwich almost scored a second minute after taking the lead, but American Josh Sargent was offside, prompting Maresca and captain Ricardo Pereira to demand his troops gain some confidence and calm.

Composure was soon gained and his dominant aerial play arrived late, and Leicester equalized 14 minutes after trailing. Wout Faes missed a cross but showed tenacity to win the ball back before passing it to star midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.

Ndidi is far from the number 6 who arrived on these shores and is now the heart of this team. It was his cross that found Mavididi at the far post, and the Arsenal academy graduate cushioned a header to Kieran Dewsbury-Hall for a tap-in.

Mavididi showed his lack of greed in assisting that goal, but soon showed his individual class, as he beat defender Jack Stacey and fired into the far corner to put Leicester ahead in the 61st minute after some good play again involving Ndidi and Dewsbury-Hall.

In reality, Norwich barely threatened after their goal, although Stacey pounced in the 70th minute only to shoot wide, and Leicester’s possession-based game ended the contest. Vardy came off the bench and scored a third to secure the three points.