Ranieri's managerial debut with the club came in a 4–2 win over Sunderland on the opening match of the season on 8 August. After the match, Ranieri told the media that he inspired the team to win by giving them motivation from local rock band Kasabian. Following Leicester's first clean sheet of the 2015–16 Premier League season, which came in the club's tenth fixture, in a 1–0 home win against Crystal Palace on 24 October, Ranieri attracted further media attention when he rewarded his players by taking the team out for pizza and having champagne. The strong start of the season saw the club at the top of the Premier League at Christmas, having scored in each of their first 17 games. During this run, striker Jamie Vardy broke the Premier League record by scoring in 11 consecutive league matches, a run Ranieri compared to Gabriel Batistuta's during the 1994–95 season, while Ranieri was his manager at Fiorentina.