The lethal striking duo of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy combined again to nudge Leicester City closer to the title on Saturday, although Arsenal remain primed to pounce on any slip-ups by the leaders after ending a three-game winless run in the Premier League.
Vardy, the league’s top scorer, set up Mahrez to score his 16th goal of the season during their game against Crystal Palace and clinch Leicester’s third successive 1-0 win.
With seven games remaining, Leicester were eight points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, who were to host AFC Bournemouth yesterday, while Arsenal were a further three points back in third after a 2-0 win against Everton.
Photo: EPA
Leicester’s fans are already daring to believe their team in May will lift the league trophy for the first time.
“We’re going to win the league,” they chanted in unison at Selhurst Park for more than 15 minutes after the final whistle.
“Our fans are singing, that is fantastic, but we have to stay calm and concentrated,” Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said.
A year ago Leicester were rock bottom of the league and facing relegation to the League Championship. A late recovery saved Leicester, but not Nigel Pearson’s job.
Former Chelsea manager Ranieri was hired, despite an 11-year absence from the Premier League — and more recently being fired by Greece — with the task of avoiding relegation again.
“I remember at the start of the season, I haven’t forgotten: The goal was to save the team,” Ranieri said. “Now everybody is speaking about us. Not only in England, but around the world.”
Never have expectations been so thoroughly exceeded in the Premier League.
In contrast, Arsenal have underachieved since last winning the title in 2004, but Arsene Wenger is not giving up yet.
First-half goals at Goodison Park kept alive Arsenal’s unlikely title chances, with Danny Welbeck running through unchecked to score in the seventh minute and Alex Iwobi marking his first league start with his first league goal in the 42nd minute on a counterattack.
The league is Arsenal’s last hope of silverware after being eliminated from the FA Cup and Champions League in the past week.
“I am pleased how we responded under pressure,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “The character of my players was questioned. We would have been out of [the title race] if we hadn’t have won.”
“I’m not masochistic enough to consider us out,” he said. “We are not the flavor of the week, but if we don’t believe, nobody will do it for us.”
Everton were 12th, but have a chance of taking the FA Cup off Arsenal after reaching the semi-finals last week.
Chelsea are only playing for pride, having started the season as champions. The only pleasure for the 10th-placed team on Saturday was stopping West Ham United from moving into the top four Champions League qualification spots after Chelsea twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw through Cesc Fabregas’ goals.
Fabregas’ brilliant free-kick canceled out Manuel Lanzini’s superb opener in the first half and he responded to Andy Carroll’s goal by netting from the penalty spot in the 89th minute.
Chelsea were awarded the spot-kick, despite replays suggesting minimal contact when Ruben Loftus-Cheek was judged to have been tripped by Michail Antonio.
At the bottom of the standings, Norwich City climbed out of the relegation zone after ending an 11-game winless by beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 through Robbie Brady’s second-half goal.
Swansea City’s own relegation fears were eased by Federico Fernandez clinching a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa to move 11 points from danger.
Watford were a point ahead of Swansea after losing 2-1 to sixth-place Stoke City, whose goals were provided by Jonathan Walters and Joselu.
Stoke were a point behind Manchester United, who were to play fourth-placed Manchester City yesterday.
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