Leicester City vs Swansea City. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance31,962.
Monday 25 April 2016 06:54, UK
Leonardo Ulloa scored twice to help inspire Leicester to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Swansea at the King Power Stadium and move Claudio Ranieri's side a step closer to the Premier League title.
In the absence of top goalscorer Jamie Vardy, Ulloa led the line to great effect scoring either side of half-time as the hosts went eight points clear of nearest rivals Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table.
Riyad Mahrez set Leicester on their way in the 10th minute after intercepting Ashley Williams' poor pass, before firing a low shot into the bottom corner.
The Algeria international, who alongside team-mates Vardy and N'Golo Kante is up for the PFA Player of the Year on Sunday evening, then helped the hosts double their advantage in the 30th minute, sending in an inch-perfect free-kick for Ulloa to head past Lukasz Fabianski.
Ulloa added a third on the hour mark, tapping home Jeffrey Schlupp's pass to score his third goal in two games before substitute Marc Albrighton rounded off proceedings in the 85th minute to help record Leicester's biggest win of the season.
Victory means Leicester need just five points from their remaining three matches to claim the title ahead of Tottenham, who play West Brom on Monday Night Football.
Speculation was rife before kick-off as to who Claudio Ranieri would turn to in place of the suspended Vardy and it was last week's penalty hero Ulloa who got the nod.
Ranieri, who had only made 25 changes to his starting 11 all season before kick-off, sprung another change with Jeffrey Schlupp replacing Albrighton.
With the title well within Leicester's grasp, there were plenty of nerves around the ground before kick-off and it showed on the pitch in the second minute as Wayne Routledge swung a cross into the Leicester penalty area with the outside of his boot, but the unmarked Andre Ayew could not get on the end of it.
However, just eight minutes later, all the nerves had disappeared thanks to a horrendous error from Williams. The Swansea skipper's woeful pass was easily intercepted by Mahrez, and the Algerian showed his composure to cut back onto his right foot and fire past Fabianski for his 17th goal of the season.
Mahrez was certainly stepping up in the absence of Vardy, taking his side forward at every opportunity and the forward did brilliantly in the 27th minute to create space for a shot, but his drilled effort was well blocked.
From the resulting corner, the loose ball dropped to Christian Fuchs, but the full-back's acrobatic effort was easily saved by Fabianksi.
Leicester were in the ascendancy and they made it count when Mahrez's inch-perfect free-kick was headed in expertly by Ulloa in the 30th minute.
The King Power Stadium was rocking but just two minutes later Swansea showed they were still a threat with Federico Fernandez heading just over and Gylfi Sigurdsson forcing Kasper Schmeichel into a smart save low down to his right.
Francesco Guidolin threw on Jefferson Montero and Alberto Paloschi in place of Routledge and Leroy Fer as Swansea came out with renewed vigour after the break, but the final pass was still letting the visitors down.
The wind was finally taken out of Swansea's sails on the hour mark when Schlupp nipped the ball around Angel Rangel before attempting to square the ball to Ulloa. The pass was blocked but luckily for Schlupp the ball rebounded to him and at the second attempt he picked out Ulloa, who tapped into an empty net.
The Foxes started to turn on the style with Schlupp, buoyed by his assist, powering an effort towards the bottom corner in the 66th minute, but Fabianski got across well to make an excellent save. Shinji Okazaki was next to go close for the hosts, picking up the loose ball just inside the penalty area, before firing his effort over the crossbar.
With Ulloa's back seemingly stiffening up, Ranieri, who could be without Vardy for next week's trip to Manchester United, took no chances, replacing the striker with Andy King for the final 12 minutes.
The substitute had not one, but two chances to score in quick succession after going clear through on goal, but the Welshman was denied by Fabianski before curling an effort over the crossbar.
It was to be another substitute to round of proceedings for the home side as Albrighton, on for the impressive Schlupp, powered the ball into the roof of the net to secure Leicester's joint biggest win in the Premier League and move them ever closer to a first Premier League title in the club's history.
Player ratings
Leicester: Schmeichel (7), Simpson (7), Huth (7), Morgan (7), Fuchs (7), Mahrez (8), Kante (7), Drinkwater (7), Schlupp (8), Okazaki (7), Ulloa (9).
Subs used: Gray (6), Albrighton (6), King (6).
Swansea: Fabianski (7), Rangel (6), Fernandez (6), Williams (5), Taylor (6), Britton (6), Fer (5), Cork (6), Sigurdsson (6), Routledge (5), Ayew (6).
Subs used: Ki Sung-Yueng (5), Montero (6), Paloschi (5).
Man of the match: Leonardo Ulloa
