Leicesters hat-trick hero Riyad Mahrez. PA Wire / PA Images
PA Wire / PA Images / PA Images
Swansea City 0-3 Leicester City
JAMIE VARDY’S RECORD-breaking scoring run finally came to an end , but a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick sent Leicester City back to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win at Swansea City.
After netting for the 11th straight Premier League game against Manchester United last Saturday – breaking the record set by Ruud van Nistelrooy – Vardy had his sights set on matching Dubliner Jimmy Dunne’s all-time Football League record of scoring in 12 consecutive matches for Sheffield United in 1931-32.
While he was unsuccessful in his bid for more individual glory, Vardy had a hand in all three goals as Mahrez stole the show at the Liberty Stadium.
Vardy shoots but fails to score. PA Wire / PA Images
PA Wire / PA Images / PA Images
Mahrez broke the deadlock inside five minutes, inadvertently turning home a corner earned by Vardy that Swansea were unable to defend.
The winger’s second was more aesthetically pleasing as he slotted home following excellent play from Vardy and N’Golo Kante.
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And, after an improved start to the second half from the hosts, Mahrez completed his treble after capitalising on more fine build-up work from Kante and Vardy by firing in at the far post.
The win sends Leicester two points clear at the top and heaps more pressure on under-fire Swansea manager Garry Monk, whose side are four points above the bottom three.
Southampton 1-1 Aston Villa
The Villa players congratulate Lescott. Chris Ison
Chris Ison
Aston Villa staved off a Southampton fightback as the Premier League’s bottom side earned a valuable 1-1 draw at St Mary’s.
A first-half goal against the run of play from Joleon Lescott put Villa on course for what would have been an unlikely victory, but Oriol Romeu’s equaliser 17 minutes from time ensured Ronald Koeman’s side a share of the spoils.
The hosts won last season’s corresponding fixture 6-1, but this time they wasted a string of chances before substitute Romeu eventually made the breakthrough following a corner.
Lescott’s goal – also from a corner – was his first in almost a year and came after the visitors had survived wave after wave of pressure from a quick-starting Southampton side.
Koeman’s men have now gone four games without a win in all competitions, including their 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool in the League Cup in midweek.
And although the result saw Villa set a new club record of 14 league games without a win, Remi Garde will have taken plenty of positives from his side’s gutsy display.
Watford 2-0 Norwich
Watford's Odion Ighalo. Jon Buckle
Jon Buckle
Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo helped Watford move back into the top half of the Premier League table as they each scored to see off Norwich City 2-0.
A first half of few chances was brought to life on 30 minutes when Ighalo’s powerful run into the box was unfairly halted by Alexander Tetty, with Deeney making no mistake in converting the resulting penalty, becoming the first Watford player to score in four consecutive Premier League games.
Ighalo saw a header disallowed for offside just before half-time, before squandering a number of second-half chances as Norwich tried to hold on.
But he was eventually rewarded for his sparkling performance in stoppage time, bursting past his man to coolly slot home.
A sixth win of the season for Quique Sanchez Flores’s men sees them climb to ninth, with the form of strike partners Deeney and Ighalo sure to boost their increasingly strong hopes for survival.
In contrast, the result will have done little to ease Norwich’s relegation worries with the Canaries having now claimed just one win in their last 10 Premier League games, keeping them 16th.
Jamie Vardy won't be breaking Irishman Jimmy Dunne's record anytime soon as run ends
Swansea City 0-3 Leicester City
JAMIE VARDY’S RECORD-breaking scoring run finally came to an end , but a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick sent Leicester City back to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win at Swansea City.
After netting for the 11th straight Premier League game against Manchester United last Saturday – breaking the record set by Ruud van Nistelrooy – Vardy had his sights set on matching Dubliner Jimmy Dunne’s all-time Football League record of scoring in 12 consecutive matches for Sheffield United in 1931-32.
While he was unsuccessful in his bid for more individual glory, Vardy had a hand in all three goals as Mahrez stole the show at the Liberty Stadium.
Mahrez broke the deadlock inside five minutes, inadvertently turning home a corner earned by Vardy that Swansea were unable to defend.
The winger’s second was more aesthetically pleasing as he slotted home following excellent play from Vardy and N’Golo Kante.
And, after an improved start to the second half from the hosts, Mahrez completed his treble after capitalising on more fine build-up work from Kante and Vardy by firing in at the far post.
The win sends Leicester two points clear at the top and heaps more pressure on under-fire Swansea manager Garry Monk, whose side are four points above the bottom three.
Southampton 1-1 Aston Villa
Aston Villa staved off a Southampton fightback as the Premier League’s bottom side earned a valuable 1-1 draw at St Mary’s.
A first-half goal against the run of play from Joleon Lescott put Villa on course for what would have been an unlikely victory, but Oriol Romeu’s equaliser 17 minutes from time ensured Ronald Koeman’s side a share of the spoils.
The hosts won last season’s corresponding fixture 6-1, but this time they wasted a string of chances before substitute Romeu eventually made the breakthrough following a corner.
Lescott’s goal – also from a corner – was his first in almost a year and came after the visitors had survived wave after wave of pressure from a quick-starting Southampton side.
Koeman’s men have now gone four games without a win in all competitions, including their 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool in the League Cup in midweek.
And although the result saw Villa set a new club record of 14 league games without a win, Remi Garde will have taken plenty of positives from his side’s gutsy display.
Watford 2-0 Norwich
Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo helped Watford move back into the top half of the Premier League table as they each scored to see off Norwich City 2-0.
A first half of few chances was brought to life on 30 minutes when Ighalo’s powerful run into the box was unfairly halted by Alexander Tetty, with Deeney making no mistake in converting the resulting penalty, becoming the first Watford player to score in four consecutive Premier League games.
Ighalo saw a header disallowed for offside just before half-time, before squandering a number of second-half chances as Norwich tried to hold on.
But he was eventually rewarded for his sparkling performance in stoppage time, bursting past his man to coolly slot home.
A sixth win of the season for Quique Sanchez Flores’s men sees them climb to ninth, with the form of strike partners Deeney and Ighalo sure to boost their increasingly strong hopes for survival.
In contrast, the result will have done little to ease Norwich’s relegation worries with the Canaries having now claimed just one win in their last 10 Premier League games, keeping them 16th.
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