Leicester moved two points clear at the top after Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick sank Garry Monk’s sorry Swansea side.
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Jamie Vardy’s record-breaking scoring run finally came to an end on Saturday, 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.
Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic (right) clashes with Manchester City’s Fabian Delph (second left) after the game as Erik Pieters (centre) and Joe Hart intervene. “It was a disappointing start and we could not recover from it”.
Manchester United drew nil-all with West Ham and now sit fourth, level on points with third placed City.
Manager Monk’s position had already been under intense scrutiny and, having heard his side booed for a second successive home game, there will be more doubts than ever about his future.
Vardy’s 14-goal tally for the season matches the total for Monk’s entire squad, while a Swansea striker has not found the net since the end of August, the same weekend as the Foxes’ forward’s remarkable streak began.
Embattled Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho maintained that the loss was undeserved and said the referee should have awarded a penalty before Bournemouth’s goal when Simon Francis handled.
Ranieri, who reached the Champions League with Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan, wants another crack at the competition or the Europa League at least.
The Italian boss revealed to Sky Sports earlier in the season that he had offered his players the incentive of pizza after games, if they managed to shut out an opponent.
Monk said: “Goals are the stat that decides matches and of course we need to improve in that area as a team”.
“Our objective is not to fight for (avoiding) relegation, so if our objective is to fight for top four then (after this) you have to think about finishing top six”.
Fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur also failed to make ground on the teams above them, drawing 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion after James McClean cancelled out Dele Alli’s volleyed 15th-minute opener for Spurs.
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.
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Bottom club Aston Villa earned a 1-1 draw at Southampton, while Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo struck as Watford beat Norwich City 2-0.
