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Swansea 0 - Leicester 3: Mahrez hat-trick sends Foxes top as Vardy run ends
NOTHING lasts forever. Not even mind-blowing Jamie Vardy scoring streaks.
Riyad Mahrez bags a hat-trick at the Liberty Stadium
The unthinkable happened yesterday as the Leicester City sensation failed to score for a 12th consecutive game – falling one short of the all-time record set by Sheffield United’s Jimmy Dunne in 1931-32.
Yet while Vardy fired blanks for the first time since late August, Claudio Ranieri’s Midlands men were still way too strong for struggling Swansea.
And thanks to a superb hat-trick from their other star of the campaign, Riyad Mahrez, Leicester are back at the
Premier League summit – two points clear of the rest.
Jamie Vardy failed to make it 12 goals in 12 consecutive games
Grinning Ranieri said after: “We are at the top again but I’m still looking to get to 40 points.
“We have Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton and Man City coming up – that will be a big problem so we have to concentrate and work hard. I was so pleased with this performance. Everyone looks to Jamie Vardy for the goals but today was about Mahrez.”
But if Leicester are riding high, it is the opposite for Garry Monk’s Welsh outfit. One win in 11 leaves them in deep trouble and their coach facing the sack.
Monk moaned: “It was handball for the first goal and offside for the second.
“But that’s no excuse. It was very bleak. It was unacceptable and the people I feel most for are the fans. They deserve better.”
Swansea have secured just one win in their last 11 matches as pressure mounts on boss Garry Monk
It took Leicester only five minutes to pierce Swansea’s fragile rearguard. Danny Drinkwater’s corner was fired to the near post where Mahrez, despite Ki Sung-Yueng’s attentions, bundled home.
In the 23rd minute, Mahrez, offside according to TV replays, buried his second into the far corner. Then in the 67th minute, Mahrez completed his hat-trick, courtesy of Vardy.
Most strikers, especially one on the brink of another amazing milestone, would have spun and shot when collecting possession inside the area. Not Vardy.
With Mahrez better placed, he decided to tee up the Algerian for his 12th goal this season.
Minutes later Vardy had a chance to equal Dunne’s 12 in 12 but, having controlled perfectly, he stabbed horribly wide.
Swansea captain Ashley Williams and Mahrez had to be separated after a post-match bust-up outside the Swansea dressing room.
MAN OF THE MATCH: RIYAD MAHREZ – the Algerian livewire winger even upstaged golden boy Vardy with a quite brilliant display.
SWANSEA: Fabianski; Naughton, Bartley, Williams, Taylor; Britton (Barrow 63), Ki (Cork 78), Routledge (Montero 45), Sigurdsson, Ayew, Gomis.
LEICESTER: Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Mahrez (Schlupp 90), Drinkwater, Kante, Albrighton; Ulloa (King 87th), Vardy.
Ref: M Oliver