Birmingham City 2-3 Leicester City: Stephy Mavididi and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall strike to earn visitors all three points... as Jamie Vardy misses out on the Foxes' victory over Wayne Rooney's side in the WAGatha Christie derby

It didn’t need Hercule Poirot to figure out why it might suit Leicester for Jamie Vardy to miss the ‘Wagatha derby’ as the Championship leaders defeated Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham without him.

The ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial has placed this fixture under the spotlight ever since Rooney became manager of Birmingham in October. 

Vardy’s wife Rebekah was ordered to pay a legal bill of about £3million to Coleen Rooney – wife of Wayne – after Mrs Vardy was accused of leaking private stories about her to media outlets.

Yet although Jamie’s knee injury stopped any further fireworks between the families, the St Andrew’s crowd were treated to a spectacle that the best courtroom dramas would have struggled to match. 

Five goals, countless chances and a soundtrack from the stands that was a two-hour Wagatha tribute act.

And if Vardy wasn’t here in person, he certainly was in spirit as his team-mates needled the home crowd in a way the old wind-up merchant would have loved – and Rooney didn’t mind it either. 

‘It’s good that players can celebrate without worrying about VAR,’ he said. ‘There’s emotion in the game. I got a phone thrown at my head at Anfield once, which just missed me.

‘We kept pushing but we fell a bit short. There is a reason Leicester are top of the league but we competed with them and showed quality.’

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca added: ‘They are young people and they were happy. Sometimes they may behave in a way that’s not correct.’

In the ninth minute, Foxes defender James Justin turned the ball against his own post and 13 seconds later his team were ahead. The rebound fell perfectly for Abdul Fatawu. Fatawu released Stephy Mavididi who finished confidently and celebrated by sitting on the advertising board and gazing contemptuously at the home fans.

Not surprisingly, Blues fans were furious and had to be restrained by stewards. They cheered up when Jordan James equalised impressively but soon Leicester’s agents provocateurs were at it again.

This time it was Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s turn to enraged the Birmingham supporters. The midfielder ran clear, rounded John Ruddy and steered the visitors back into the lead before running again to the Tilton End, palms outstretched. Again, stewards had to stop Blues fans taking out their anger on a Leicester player. 

The fans had been in full cry since the second minute, with chants both abusive and supportive aimed in the direction of Rooney and Vardy. 

Then another flowing move early in the second half provided Mavididi with his second, an angled effort that was deflected past Ruddy.

Vardy’s sights are now firmly on a return to the Premier League while Rooney would dearly love a statement victory like the one his wife enjoyed in the High Court. Thanks to another deflection, James scored Blues’ second with 17 minutes remaining but the result leaves them sliding back towards the danger zone. 

No wonder the Leicester fans were crowing ‘Sacked in the morning!’ More than a year after the Wagatha trial had concluded, Rooney had found himself on the end of a far more painful verdict.