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EPL wrap: Leicester top as Man City, Chelsea lose

Mahrez got Leicester off to a flyer, opening the scoring after less than five minutes, and his team just got better from there on in as Swansea disappointed.

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With 15 points from 15 games, Chelsea is only three points clear of the drop zone in an incredible reversal of its dominant form of last season.

Manchester City’s dismal 2-0 defeat at Stoke City in the early kickoff opened the door for pre-season relegation tips Leicester to reach the summit after 15 games and they responded in style in south Wales.

But a superb 3-0 win for the Foxes Saturday at Swansea City, combined with a 1-0 win for promoted Bournemouth at Chelsea in the late kick off, a stunning upset, has left the table with an air of unreality.

Whether Leicester can realistically depose Chelsea as champions might become clearer by the end of December, with games against Jose Mourinho’s team, Everton, Liverpool and Man City to come.

Bournemouth moved out of the bottom three.

But Ranieri said Vardy “is not disappointed, he is OK”.

Riyad Mahrez took on scoring responsibilities to bag two goals against Andre Ayew’s side in the first half before completing his hat-trick with a third in the second half.

Olivier Giroud scored at both ends while Aaron Ramsey was also on target as Arsenal picked up a 3-1 win over Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.

Earlier, Manuel Pellegrini’s men served up an abject performance as two first-half goals from Marko Arnautovic and a brilliant individual performance by Xherdan Shaqiri gave Mark Hughes’ side the points.

They struggled to keep possession of the ball and, as a result, their attack caused no real danger or was able to test Leicester’s ‘keeper, Kasper Schmeichel.

Missing Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla through injury, Arsenal took a 33rd-minute lead when Mesut Ozil’s 12th assist of the season allowed Joel Campbell to slot the home side in front.

Vardy may not have scored on the day, but he was great once more and involved in this goal, feeding Kanté who sprinted through the defence and into the box.

“We didn’t have too many chances to score”.

Remi Garde is still awaiting his first win as manager of bottom club Aston Villa but earned some comfort in a 1-1 draw away to Southampton.

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Tottenham drew 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion after Dele Alli’s opener was cancelled out by James McClean. They’d only won one of their last 10 matches so today would have been a day they wanted to come back, they wanted to stay strong with us.

Leicester's Riyad Mahrez celebrates his hat-trick in their 3-0 Barclays Premier League win at Swansea