SOUTHAMPTON piled further misery onto Champions Leicester at St Mary's on Sunday lunchtime.
The result means Leicester remain without a win away from home in the league this season. The Saints who had lost their last four league games outclassed their opponents from the first whistle to the last. They took the lead through James Ward-Prowse his first goal in 22 games, and it was his free-kick that led to the hosts second from Jay Rodriguez before Dusan Tadic tucked home a late penalty to make it 3-0.
This result means Leicester are without an away win in 11 league games, having won the same amount on their travels en route to the title last season. They have now conceded 37 goals in their 22 games which is 1 more than the whole of last season.
The result leaves the Champions 5 points and 5 places above the bottom three, while the Saints move up to 11th.
In this fixture last season the hosts took a 2-0 lead into half-time before a Jamie Vardy double saw Leicester come away with a 2-2 draw. However, this time around it was not as spirited the fight and determination that we saw 15 months ago was absent as they look a shadow of what they were last season.
If the Champions are going to avoid a relegation battle then they need to win games and fast and the fixtures they have coming up are not ones you would look at for encouragement.
Four of the next six are away and including their last 16 Champions League tie at Sevilla, while their games at the KP are against Manchester United and Liverpool so it looks bleak for Ranieri's side.
It seems to be when Leicester go behind especially away from home their heads drop and that is exactly what happened today. As soon as Ward Prowse slotted home there was only going to be one winner.
Saints doubled their lead before the interval when Ward Prowse lifted the ball into the area, Robert Huth glanced it towards Rodriguez who slotted home to double the lead. Half - Time arrived with Leicester managing just two touches in the opposition box.
Leicester captain Wes Morgan headed the ball into his own net but the goal was ruled out as the offside flag went up. However, Morgan would face embarrassment a few minutes later when he was well beaten for pace by Long who was brought down and a penalty correctly awarded.
Dusan Tadic stepped up and capped off a wonderful performance by the hosts to move up to 11th in the table.
The only down point for Puel will be the loss of Virgil Van Djik to an ankle injury after losing Jose Fonte who this week completed his move to West Ham.
When asked about the availability of Van Djik for the second leg on the EFL Cup Semi Final on Wednesday Puel said "We will see tomorrow and the next day. He is an important player for us and I hope he can recover."
This result means Leicester are without an away win in 11 league games, having won the same amount on their travels en route to the title last season. They have now conceded 37 goals in their 22 games which is 1 more than the whole of last season.
The result leaves the Champions 5 points and 5 places above the bottom three, while the Saints move up to 11th.
In this fixture last season the hosts took a 2-0 lead into half-time before a Jamie Vardy double saw Leicester come away with a 2-2 draw. However, this time around it was not as spirited the fight and determination that we saw 15 months ago was absent as they look a shadow of what they were last season.
If the Champions are going to avoid a relegation battle then they need to win games and fast and the fixtures they have coming up are not ones you would look at for encouragement.
Four of the next six are away and including their last 16 Champions League tie at Sevilla, while their games at the KP are against Manchester United and Liverpool so it looks bleak for Ranieri's side.
It seems to be when Leicester go behind especially away from home their heads drop and that is exactly what happened today. As soon as Ward Prowse slotted home there was only going to be one winner.
Saints doubled their lead before the interval when Ward Prowse lifted the ball into the area, Robert Huth glanced it towards Rodriguez who slotted home to double the lead. Half - Time arrived with Leicester managing just two touches in the opposition box.
Leicester captain Wes Morgan headed the ball into his own net but the goal was ruled out as the offside flag went up. However, Morgan would face embarrassment a few minutes later when he was well beaten for pace by Long who was brought down and a penalty correctly awarded.
Dusan Tadic stepped up and capped off a wonderful performance by the hosts to move up to 11th in the table.
The only down point for Puel will be the loss of Virgil Van Djik to an ankle injury after losing Jose Fonte who this week completed his move to West Ham.
When asked about the availability of Van Djik for the second leg on the EFL Cup Semi Final on Wednesday Puel said "We will see tomorrow and the next day. He is an important player for us and I hope he can recover."
THE MANAGERS
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| Claude Puel assess the game |
WHAT'S NEXT?
It is a big week for the Saints they travel to Anfield on Wednesday night for the second leg of their EFL Cup Semi-Final where they lead 1-0 from the first leg, before they play Arsenal in the F.A Cup on Saturday. The Champions play Derby in the F.A Cup on Friday.
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