Chelsea turn it up to 11, Ibra lifts Man Utd

LONDON, United Kingdom -- Diego Costa earned Chelsea a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday as the Premier League leaders claimed a club record-equaling 11th consecutive league victory.

Costa headed home Cesar Azpilicueta's cross in the 43rd minute at a foggy Selhurst Park to send Antonio Conte's men nine points clear.

"The run is fantastic," said Chelsea manager Conte. "Congratulations to my players, not me. I am pleased for them because they deserve this."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Manchester United won 2-0 at West Bromwich Albion, while champions Leicester City weathered the dismissal of Jamie Vardy to come from 2-0 down and draw 2-2 at Stoke City.

Chelsea have matched their record of 11 consecutive wins from April to September 2009, achieving the feat within the same season for the first time.

The only blemishes were yellow cards for Costa and N'Golo Kante that mean both players will be suspended for next weekend's home game against Bournemouth.

Narrowly beaten 2-1 by Manchester United in mid-week, Palace threatened to take the lead against Chelsea when Jason Puncheon scuffed wide from Martin Kelly's cross.

The visitors went in front shortly before half-time after Eden Hazard sprayed a pass wide to Azpilicueta, whose floated cross allowed Costa to nod in his 13th goal of the campaign.

Marcos Alonso struck the bar with a late free-kick, but Costa's goal proved sufficient.

Chelsea are nine points clear of second-place Liverpool, who visit Everton on Monday, and Arsenal, who travel to fourth-place Manchester City on Sunday.

"We can improve though," Conte added. "It is important to understand we are only at the 17th game in the season. We must not look at the table."

Jose Mourinho's United drew level on points with fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who host Burnley on Sunday, after winning at West Brom to record three successive league wins for the first time since August.

Ibrahimovic opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a header from Jesse Lingard's fine right-wing cross at the conclusion of a magnificent team move.

After Ben Foster had pushed a shot from Wayne Rooney onto the bar, Ibrahimovic added a second in the 56th minute.

- Negredo at the double -

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker darted between two defenders before scoring via a deflection off Craig Dawson, leaving him with nine goals from his last 10 appearances and 16 for the season.

"I keep saying that for me it is not his body, for me it is more up here," Mourinho told BT Sport, pointing to his head.

"It is a pleasure to see him play, his happiness. It's fantastic for a 35-year-old guy."

He added: "That was very good. We played really well at Crystal Palace and today, even better."

Leicester avoided a ninth defeat of the campaign thanks to an impressive fightback in a stormy game at Stoke, which left Claudio Ranieri's men three points above the relegation zone in 15th place.

Vardy was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for a two-footed challenge on Mame Biram Diouf, ruling the England striker out of Leicester's entire festive programme.

Bojan Krkic put Stoke ahead with a 39th-minute penalty after Danny Simpson was adjudged to have handled his cross, with Joe Allen tapping in a second in first-half stoppage time.

But Leonardo Ulloa halved the deficit, smuggling a header over the line from fellow substitute Demarai Gray's cross, before Christian Fuchs teed up Daniel Amartey to head in an 88th-minute leveller.

Discussing whether Vardy deserved to be sent off, Leicester manager Ranieri said: "One manager says yes, one says no. If you listen to me, I say 'no'. If you listen to Mark Hughes, he says 'yes'.

"I don't know if he touched the player, but he touched the ball. I was angry (with the referee) because I saw my players fight and there were so many yellow cards, but it was a normal battle in the Premier League.

"It could be a turning point today, but we have to wait and see the next matches."

Middlesbrough moved above Leicester to 14th place after beating Swansea City 3-0 courtesy of a first-half Alvaro Negredo brace and a Marten de Roon volley.

Swansea dropped to second-bottom, with Sunderland climbing off the foot of the table after Patrick van Aanholt's 49th-minute goal secured a 1-0 home win over Watford.

Hull City are now bottom following a 1-0 defeat at West Ham United, who prevailed through Mark Noble's 76th-minute penalty after the visitors had hit the post three times.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

PREMIER LEAGUE: Champions Leicester and struggling Sunderland party

LONDON - Leicester City celebrated their gloriously unlikely Premier League triumph in a fitting manner with a 3-1 victory over Everton in front of their overjoyed, partying fans at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Jamie Vardy, with a double, and Andy King scored the goals that left the home supporters in raptures even before they could savour the almost unthinkable sight of captain Wes Morgan and manager Claudio Ranieri lifting the trophy after the final whistle.

There were more celebrations at the Stadium of Light where Jermain Defoe was again the toast of Sunderland after his winner in a 3-2 victory over Chelsea lifted them out of the relegation zone, leaving Newcastle United and Norwich City on the verge of the drop.

Rafa Benitez's Newcastle, a point behind north-east neighbours Sunderland in 18th place having played a game more, would then be relegated along with Norwich who are second from bottom.

After the nerve-shredding drama at the other end of the table, Leicester were able to relax in the day's late game and revel in the triumph that has been making headlines all over the world.

Free pizzas and beer for the fans and a stirring rendition of Nessun Dorma by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in a Leicester shirt was the order of a surreal day before the Foxes showed no ill-effects from their week's heady celebrations since being crowned champions on Monday.

The "Jamie Vardy's having a party" chant was belted out by the supporters as the England striker took his season's goal tally in the league to 24.

The only false note came when the forward blasted his second penalty of the day high over the bar in the 72nd minute with Leicester already cruising at 3-0.

CLUB STALWART

It seemed perfect that the goals should arrive from Vardy, whose amazing rise from minor-league obscurity reflects City's own soaring journey, and King who has been a club stalwart through the thinnest of times.

Leicester's victory gave them a 10-point lead at the top of the table with the champions having one game to go, at Ranieri's former club Chelsea next weekend.

United's win at Norwich, courtesy of Juan Mata's fifth goal against the Canaries, left them in fifth place, one point behind neighbours Manchester City who occupy the fourth Champions League qualification spot and face fellow contenders Arsenal on Sunday.

West Ham United's push to play Champions League football in their first season in the Olympic Stadium looked bleak following a surprising 4-1 hammering by Swansea City in their final Saturday afternoon game at the Boleyn Ground.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce was full of praise for former England marksman Defoe after a result that he felt demonstrated the depth of his side's character.

"You give Jermain Defoe a chance and generally he at least hits the target," said Allardyce.

"We've crawled out of the bottom three by the number of goals he's scored. Without him I dread to think where we'd be as a team."

Twice Sunderland had to come from behind, first after Diego Costa had put Chelsea ahead and then, following Wahbi Khazri's equaliser, after Nemanja Matic had put the visitors 2-1 up on the stroke of halftime.

Three minutes after Fabio Borini's 67th-minute equaliser, Defoe, capitalising on a poor clearance from John Obi Mikel, smashed home the winner.

Terry received his marching orders deep into injury time for a second bookable offence, a decision Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink called "a little bit over the top".

Benitez sounded almost resigned to Newcastle's fate after their failure to dent a surprisingly resolute Villa rearguard.

"It was an opportunity to stay ahead of Sunderland and we couldn't do it," said the Spaniard. "We are disappointed."

(Editing by Tony Jimenez and Clare Fallon)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

FOOTBALL: US thrash Guatemala, Netherlands down England

US bounce back with Guatemala thrashing

Agence France-Presse

The United States got their flagging 2018 World Cup qualification campaign back on track on Tuesday with a 4-0 thrashing of Guatemala.

A shock 2-0 defeat to the Guatemalans last Friday had left Jurgen Klinsmann's side facing a must-win return fixture in Columbus, where a defeat would have all but eliminated them from North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) zone qualifiers.

But the USA, who have appeared at every World Cup finals since the 1990 tournament in Italy, never looked like being denied all three points as they dominated from the opening minutes.

The result vaulted the Americans over Guatemala into second place in the standings in the four-team Group C, behind Trinidad and Tobago, who defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines 6-0 on Tuesday.

The top two teams in the group qualify for the final round of competition to determine CONCACAF's World Cup contingent.

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Disputed Dutch winner keeps England in check

John Geddie, Reuters

England came crashing down to earth with a frustrating 2-1 loss to an inexperienced Netherlands side at Wembley on Tuesday, failing to build on their defeat of world champions Germany last weekend.

Second-half goals from Dutch forward Vincent Janssen and substitute Luciano Narsingh cancelled out a Jamie Vardy strike in the first half, sapping the optimism around Roy Hodgson's side ahead of this June's European Championship finals.

On paper it should have been a routine victory for England -- a team undefeated at Wembley for 2-1/2 years, brimming with Premier League talent and up against an injury-hit, experimental Dutch outfit that failed to qualify for the Euros.

But history was never on their side. Barring one win in 1996, they have not tasted success against the Netherlands in more than 30 years.


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Germany punish Italy to atone for England shock

Reuters

World champions Germany crushed Italy 4-1 in their friendly international on Tuesday to equal their biggest win against their opponents and recover from a surprise loss to England as they put down a marker for the European Championship.

Goals from Toni Kroos, Mario Goetze and Jonas Hector in the first hour gave Italy no chance, with Mesut Ozil then converting a 75th-minute penalty after Sebastian Rudy was brought down.

A more secure defence, with centre-back Mats Hummels playing the full game, meant Italy were made to work hard for a trickle of chances and had to wait until the 84th minute for Stephan El Shaarawy to pull a goal back and deny Germany their biggest victory over their European rivals.

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Messi scores 50th Argentina goal in 2-0 win over Bolivia

Luis Ampuero, Reuters

Lionel Messi scored his 50th international goal to help Argentina beat Bolivia 2-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

The win put Argentina third in the South American group with 11 points from six matches, two points behind joint leaders Ecuador and Uruguay.

Argentina defender Gabriel Mercado, who scored the winner in Thursday's 2-1 away victory over Chile, opened the scoring in the 21st minute against Bolivia.

Argentina were awarded a penalty in the 29th minute after Ronald Eguino fouled midfielder Ever Banega, and Messi made no mistake from the spot to net his 50th goal for Argentina, putting him within six of Gabriel Batistuta's record.

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Goals galore for France as Russia are swept aside

Julien Pretot, Reuters

France bristled with goalscoring threat just 10 weeks before they host Euro 2016 as they beat Russia 4-2 in a friendly international on Tuesday.

In the first soccer match at the Stade de France since last November's deadly Paris attacks, Les Bleus played some attractive football and scored through N'Golo Kante, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Dimitri Payet and Kingsley Coman.

Seven players have now scored in two games after Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi were on target in the 3-2 win against the Netherlands four days earlier.

Alexander Kokorin and Yuri Zhirkov reduced the arrears for Russia, making the most of France's lapses in concentration on a rainy night in the capital.

Security was tight in and around the Stade de France following the attacks in Paris by militant Islamists on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people.

The crowd observed a minute's silence before kick-off in memory of the victims of last week's bombings in Brussels.

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Ibrahimovic returns as Sweden draw 1-1 with Czech Republic

Reuters

Sweden, buoyed by the return of captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic, drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic as both sides continued their preparations for Euro 2016 with a warm-up friendly on Tuesday.

The home side, looking to rebound after losing 2-1 to Turkey on Thursday, took the lead in the 14th minute when Marcus Berg converted a cross with a first-time effort past Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.

The Czechs, who lost to Scotland 1-0 at home last week, levelled in the 26th minute through Matej Vydra's diving header.

The Swedes controlled much of the game and created a number of chances throughout, forcing Vaclik into several sharp saves.

They also welcomed the return of Ibrahimovic, who missed Sweden's friendly against Turkey.

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Thousands pay tribute to Cruyff in 14th minute at Wembley

Reuters

Thousands of fans stood and applauded in a moving 14th-minute tribute to Johan Cruyff during the friendly between England and the Netherlands at Wembley on Tuesday.

The great Dutch player and coach, who wore the number 14 shirt for most of his glittering career, died last Thursday from lung cancer aged 68.

"Johan Cruyff 1947-2016" was displayed on the electronic boards surrounding the pitch, while Cruyff's face was shown on the giant scoreboards. The Wembley arch that spans the stadium and can be seen across London was lit up in orange, the national Dutch colors.

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FOOTBALL: Rooney will make Euros but may not start, says Hodgson

England manager Roy Hodgson is confident captain Wayne Rooney will save him from a selection dilemma by making a full recovery from injury in time for Euro 2016 but said the striker would not necessarily be an automatic starter.

Rooney, England's record goalscorer, has been out since Feb. 13 with a knee ligament problem and although he was scheduled to return at the start of April a setback then ruled him out for another month.

Questions have been raised in the media over whether the 30-year-old Manchester United forward will be fit by the time Hodgson names his provisional squad on May 12 but the manager played down fears his captain could miss the tournament.

"I'm confident he'll get fit and I won't have a situation where I have the dilemma of May 12 arriving and him not being 100 percent fit but knowing he could make it by the time the tournament starts," Hodgson told British media.

With a wealth of forward options at his disposal, the 68-year-old said even a fully fit Rooney was not guaranteed a starting spot for the June 10-July 10 tournament.

"I've never said he's is an automatic starter. I've never said anyone is. Does he have a good chance with his track record, ability and experience? Of course he does," Hodgson added.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean he will be in the lineup. He might not have recovered to the best of his ability, or we might want to use different players or play in a different way.

"If I think others are better or the right men to play in a particular way, he will accept that because he's a footballer, our leader and our captain. If he's fit, he'll go. But not as an automatic starter."

Hodgson has called up Premier League joint-top scorers Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane, the fit-again Daniel Sturridge, and Arsenal's Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck for friendlies against world champions Germany in Berlin on March 26 and the Netherlands at Wembley three days later. (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Nick Mulvenney)

Camoranesi sacked as coach of Argentina's Tigre

Former Italy World Cup winner Mauro Camoranesi became the eighth coach to lose his job in the Argentina top flight this season when he was sacked by first division Tigre on Thursday.

The decision came after Tigre lost 2-1 at home to Huracan on Wednesday, leaving them in 12th place in Zone B of the championship with five points from seven matches.

"After a meeting with the board, Mauro Camoranesi is no longer trainer of Tigre's first team," read a message on the club's Twitter account.

The Argentine-born former Juventus winger cut his coaching teeth with Mexican second division side Coras de Tepic in 2014/15 before taking charge at Tigre this year.

Among the coaches who have lost their jobs in the first six weeks of the championship are Rodolfo Arruabarrena of Boca Juniors, Lucas Bernardi of Newell's Old Boys and Pedro Troglio of Gimnasia.

The 30-team championship is divided into two zones of 15 with those finishing top of their zones meeting in the final on May 29. (Reporting by Rex Gowar; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PREMIER LEAGUE: Leicester back on top, Liverpool win thriller at Norwich

LONDON - Leicester City went top with a win over Stoke City, title rivals Manchester City lost ground and Liverpool edged a nine-goal epic at Norwich City on Saturday as a weird and wonderful Premier League season churned on.

As 20-times English champions Manchester United were losing at home to Southampton, pre-season relegation favourites Leicester moved three points clear of Arsenal with 15 games remaining. Danny Drinkwater, Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa struck to secure a 3-0 win for Claudio Ranieri's unlikely lads.

Leicester's day then got better as Manchester City were held 2-2 in a lively late kickoff at West Ham United -- Sergio Aguero earning his side a point after City twice trailed.


What epitomised the appeal of the world's richest soccer league, however, was Liverpool's 5-4 win at relegation-threatened Norwich City.

Liverpool took the lead at Carrow Road through Roberto Firmino but with 35 minutes remaining trailed 3-1 as Dieumerci Mbokani, debutant Steven Naismith and a Wes Hoolahan penalty put the hosts in control.

Jordan Henderson, Firmino's second and James Milner then swung the game Liverpool's way only for Norwich defender Sebastian Bassong to score a stoppage-time leveller.

There was still time though for Adam Lallana to decide a rollercoaster of a match, sparking crazy Liverpool celebrations in which manager Juergen Klopp broke his glasses.

Eight players were on the scoresheet in only the fourth Premier League match to finish 5-4.

"It was spectacular, wild, good football, and both teams had good moments," Klopp told reporters.

Leicester have 47 points, City and Arsenal, who play Chelsea on Sunday, 44 with fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the hunt after a 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace moved put them on 42.

Harry Kane cancelled out Jan Vertonghen's own goal but he was upstaged by England team mate Dele Alli, whose 25-yard volley after flicking the ball up and over his own head to put Tottenham ahead is a candidate for goal of the season.

Nacer Chadli scored Tottenham's third.

"It was a fantastic goal," Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, whose side have 42 points, said. "I think it will be shown around the world on the TV."

Manchester United stayed in fifth place, one point above West Ham, but it was another depressingly dull day at Old Trafford where United were booed off after losing 1-0 to Southampton.

Saints' Charlie Austin scored in the 87th-minute on his debut, heaping more pressure on United manager Louis van Gaal.

Lacklustre United managed only one shot on target and have now gone eight hours 26 minutes without scoring in the opening half of a game at Old Trafford.

"You can't say the fans are not right," Van Gaal told Sky Sports. "They are disappointed and have a right to boo."

Ranieri praised his Leicester side's passion and heart as they gained a timely fillip ahead of fixtures against Liverpool and title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City.

"The fans are dreaming and I want them to continue to dream," the Italian, whose side had won only one of their last four league games, said.

Drinkwater broke the deadlock just before halftime with powerful shot from outside the area, England striker Vardy netted his first goal in six league games after the break before some sublime skill from Leicester's other key man, Riyad Mahrez, teed up Ulloa to complete the scoring.

"Everything is an extra motivation because what they are doing is something extraordinary and nobody can believe what Leicester are doing," Ranieri said.

Manchester City's league away form continues to be a worry.

They have won only one of their last seven on the road and were fortunate to escape Upton Park with a point after the hosts twice led through Enner Valencia.

"It (a draw) was not what we wanted before the game," City boss Manuel Pellegrini told Sky Sports, although he was at least heartened by Aguero now operating at 100 percent.

None of the sides at the bottom helped their causes.

Bottom club Aston Villa remain six points adrift of the rest after a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion, 19th-placed Sunderland drew 1-1 at home to Bournemouth while third-bottom Newcastle United went down 2-1 at Watford.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Premier League 2015-16: The Davids' time to shine

No matter how your favorite Premier League team is faring at the moment, you have to admit that the current season is interesting and loaded with drama.

The two great stories are traditional powers floundering with the underachieving clubs turning out great results and the managers of top sides losing their jobs or seem to be on the verge of getting axed. Regarding the latter, that’s nothing unusual because of the pressure to win and their big wages.

Following the Boxing Day results, the results confirmed the nature of this most improbable season. Unlikely Leicester City atop the league with 38 points, two ahead of second place Arsenal (shocking 4-0 losers to Southampton and missing a huge chance to leap into first spot) despite its December 26 loss to inconsistent Liverpool, 1-nil.

Manchester City is third, while Tottenham is fourth. Manchester United, the gold standard for Premier League squads, is in sixth spot after absorbing a fourth straight loss, this one a 2-nil loss to Stoke City.

Where is Chelsea and Liverpool in the standings? The latter is at eighth place having just arrested a shocking skid after being bloodied in the nose by Watford, held to a 2-2 draw by West Brom and a loss to Newcastle, 2-0.

West Brom is at 13th, while Newcastle is in the relegation zone at 18th. Another Premier League fixture, Aston Villa, is dead last in the 20-team league with only eight points accrued from 20 fixtures. They look to be relegated should their free fall continue.

Chelsea is at 15th spot and hovering above the relegation zone and 20 points adrift of first place in the standings.

Watford, one of those less popular clubs is at seventh having drawn Chelsea and surviving a late penalty kick awarded to the Blues that they flubbed. The week before, they dealt Liverpool a crushing, 3-nil shellacking. Last November, they also defeated Aston Villa, 3-2.

Stoke City, currently at 11th, dealt the two Manchester squads identical 2-0 defeats in the space of three weeks.

West Brom’s best results this season were its 2-1 win over Arsenal and its draw against Liverpool.

Bournemouth, newly promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their 69-year history, fashioned some huge wins over Chelsea (1-0) and Manchester United (2-1) and a 3-3 draw against Everton. They are currently at 14th spot.

Taking at look at four clubs — Leicester, Stoke, Watford and Bournemouth — they averaged L46.5 million in wages -- half the amount paid by the top five big spending English clubs (Man City, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool). Despite West Ham being a small club, they technically aren’t because they are one of the five London-based Premier League sides and have been in the Premier League for some time. The aforementioned four sides have been either in the top flight a few years ago or newly-promoted.

Further to the funds available, the money the small clubs have on hand for the transfer window averages a paltry L12.7 million.

The success of the small clubs (and we haven’t even mentioned the upsets of Norwich City) has been due to several factors — smart football minds running the show, strong defensive midfielders and back fours, and underrated but incredible attacking threats.

Smart football minds

Stoke has had two very good managers. Tony Pulis for several years before the even more shrewd Mark Hughes took over last season and rebuilt his reputation after a disastrous spell with Queens Park Rangers.

Leicester brought Italian Claudio Ranieri who had the smarts to keep some of the previous coaching staff’s assistants for some continuity.

Bournemouth’s journey is even more incredible as twice in their history have they come back from bankruptcy to be promoted. The Cherries, as they are known, have received some money (a paltry L25 million in the last three years) from their new Russian owner Max Demin and some of these investments such as in their sports science and video support that is vastly underrated. Both have helped their players perform much better. The front office has managed the influx of money by bringing in smart and sound players, some of who have come in as free transfers. One such is Polish goalkeeper Art Boruc. Midfielder Matt Ritchie from Swindon Town and South African Tokelo Rantie from small Italian side Malmo.

Strong defense

The top two goalkeepers in the Premier League at the moment are Stoke’s Jack Butland and Watford’s Heurelho Gomes.

Leicester features a strong back four and a compact midfield. Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores builds his game behind a strong back four that likes to hit on counter attacks.

Both have eight clean sheets yet Butland has 73 saves to Gomes’ 52.

New names for attacking threats

Leicester has the duo of Jamie Vardy (league-leading 15 goals) and Riyad Mahrez (tied at second with two others with 13 goals). Stoke has the trio of Marko Arnautovic, Bojan Krkic, and Xherdan Shaqiri. Watford has Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney.

Bournemouth plays a pass-and-go offense yet will need an even bigger scoring stud upfront as they have only 22 goals against 32 conceded. Callum Wilson has only five goals; a poor ratio of a goal per 108 minutes played.

Following Leicester’s 1-nil loss to Liverpool, their second of the season and their first shut out, there’s talk that they have lost steam and will fall by the wayside. Wherever they finish, the same goes to the small clubs, they will have given this season a memorable flavor.

Oh, hey… all of a sudden that Leicester City shop in the heart of Bangkok (just outside the Siam Paragon mall along Rama I Road) is getting swamped with new fans. That’s pretty good too, right?

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Chelsea crisis after defeat in Mourinho's absence

LONDON - Jose Mourinho's future at Chelsea was pushed further under the spotlight on Saturday when the manager, absent through a stadium ban, may have watched in solitary misery as the champions lost yet again at Stoke City.

On a day when Jamie Vardy kept his amazing scoring exploits going for Leicester City to help Claudio Ranieri's side join Manchester City and Arsenal on 25 points at the top of the Premier League, the latest crisis for Mourinho still eclipsed all else.

The Portuguese had said his one-match suspension might force him to watch the match on a street corner on his iPad but, if media reports that he saw it at a nearby hotel are to be believed, Marko Arnautovic's 53rd-minute volley in Stoke's 1-0 home win will have made for wretched viewing.

It meant Mourinho was left surveying the wreckage of his worst-ever season in management, an unprecedented seventh league defeat in 12 matches being sealed by Arnautovic's acrobatic close-range effort.

Mourinho, who received the FA ban for making abusive comments to referee Jon Moss during last month's defeat at West Ham United, will have gone through agonies after Pedro hit the post with a curling shot as Chelsea piled on late pressure.

The defeat dropped Chelsea to fifth from bottom, astonishingly hovering three points above the relegation zone and placing further question marks over the manager's future at the club he led to championship glory just six months ago.

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who was back at his former club Stoke on Saturday, said Mourinho remained the "right man" for Chelsea.

"We are behind the manager, you can see that from our performances," said Begovic.

"His spirit and his presence is always there. We wanted to get a result for him."

Leicester became unlikely bedfellows with giants Manchester City and Arsenal at the top as Vardy hammered home a 65th-minute penalty to score for the ninth consecutive league match and secure a 2-1 victory over Watford.

Ranieri's Leicester are third on goal difference behind City and Arsenal who both play on Sunday.

VAN NISTELROOY RECORD

Vardy needs to find the target in his next game at Newcastle United to equal the record of Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy who netted in 10 successive matches in 2003.

Riyad Mahrez, the usual Leicester penalty taker, handed the ball over when Vardy was brought down by keeper Heurelho Gomes and the home crowd bayed for the striker to be given the chance.

"Of course Jamie wanted to score, that's normal," Ranieri said. "Van Nistelrooy was a fantastic striker and, like him, Jamie has everything to achieve at the highest level."

The Italian manager's surprise packages, who spent last season struggling for survival, had gone ahead when midfielder N'Golo Kante was amazed to see his weak 52nd-minute effort roll under accident-prone Gomes' hands.

Troy Deeney's 75th-minute penalty for Watford proved in vain.

Manchester United kept up the pressure on the pacesetters when a terrific goal from youngster Jesse Lingard helped them to a 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion, putting the Old Trafford club within a point of the leaders.

Juan Mata sealed the deal with a stoppage-time penalty after Gareth McAuley was sent off for hauling down Anthony Martial.

West Ham United missed the chance to close on the leaders after Romelu Lukaku scored against the Hammers at Upton Park to earn Everton a 1-1 draw after on-loan Argentine Manuel Lanzini had put the home side ahead.

Lukaku has now netted in all seven games he has played against the London outfit.

Sunderland's struggles at the foot of the table continued as Southampton earned a deserved 1-0 triumph at the Stadium of Light, Dusan Tadic hammering home a 69th-minute penalty.

Newcastle earned an important and highly improbable 1-0 victory at Bournemouth, scoring completely against the run of play thanks to a 27th-minute Ayoze Perez goal.

Norwich City pulled clear of the danger zone with a 70th-minute Jonny Howson header clinching a 1-0 win at home to Swansea City. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)

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