What a fairytale! The dream is all coming together for Leicester City as they surged closer to their first ever Barclays Premier League title with a 4-0 dismantling of Swansea City on Sunday.
In an electric atmosphere in front of a capacity 32 000 crowd at the King Power Stadium, Claudio Ranieri’s outfit picked off the Swans with ease as an opportunistic opener by Riyad Mahrez, a Leonardo Ulloa brace and a late strike by Marc Albrighton fired the Foxes to another crucial three points that edged them further towards the championship.
Leicester are once again eight points ahead of second-placed Tottenham and need just five more points from their last three games to grab the title.
Spurs will hope to prolong the race with their game-in-hand on Monday night against West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane.
Even if Spurs win on Monday, the top two would still be separated by five points, while there would only be nine points on offer for the rest of the season. Leicester would need just a win and a draw from their last three games against Manchester United (away), Everton (home) and Chelsea (away) to secure the title.
On Sunday, even the absence of suspended star striker Jamie Vardy didn’t hold back the home team as they played with their usual zest and energy throughout the 90 minutes.
It didn’t take them long to unlock the Swansea defence as the visitors’ skipper Ashley Williams was too casual in trying to pass the ball across Mahrez in front of his own penalty area in the 10th minute.
The ball struck the prolific Algerian striker on the left elbow, and Mahrez controlled the ball smartly before slamming the ball with his left foot past Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to record his 17th goal of the season, which places him in fourth position on the leading scorers’ list.
The Swans nearly equalised five minutes later when classy midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson found Federico Fernandez inside the Leicester box with a free kick, but his header went over the top.
But it wasn’t long before Leicester added to their lead. Despite misses by Mahrez and Shinji Okazaki, there was no mistake on the half-hour mark when the excellent English midfielder Danny Drinkwater curled in a free kick from the left and Argentine front-man Ulloa went high for a powerful header to put Leicester in total control.
Sigurdsson was the only real threat for Swansea, and he went close on a few more occasions either side of halftime, but couldn’t reduce the deficit.
After an hour’s play, Ulloa put the result beyond doubt as he easily finished off following a brilliant break-out by Ghana’s Jeff Schlupp, whose shot was blocked by Fabianski, but he then passed to an open Ulloa.
Leicester could’ve added another half-a-dozen goals as the likes of Christian Fuchs, Schlupp, Okazaki and Andy King nearly added their names to the score-sheet, but substitute Albrighton produced the finishing touch with a fourth in the 85th minute to send their fans into ecstasy.
Earlier on Sunday, Arsenal dropped two crucial points in a goalless draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Arsene Wenger’s team remain in fourth as Manchester City are ahead of them on goal difference following a 4-0 demolition of Stoke on Saturday.
The Gunners’ stalemate will also give Manchester United renewed hope of pushing for fourth spot, which would give them Champions League football next season, as Louis van Gaal’s side trail by five points, but have a game in hand.
On Saturday, United beat Everton 2-1 in extra time in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, while on Sunday, Crystal Palace beat Watford 2-1 as well in the other last-four clash to set up a United-Palace final at Wembley on May 21.
@IndyCapeSport
Premier League Top Six
1 Leicester City – Played: 35, Points: 76
2 Tottenham Hotspur – Played: 34, Points: 68
3 Manchester City – Played: 35, Points: 64
4 Arsenal – Played: 35, Points: 64
5 Manchester United – Played: 34, Points: 59
6 West Ham United – Played: 34, Points: 56