Reuters
London, March 20: Indomitable Leicester City stayed bang on course for the Premier League title as Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal at Crystal Palace, Saturday night to open up an eight-point lead with nearest rival Tottenham Hotspur with seven games left.
But any hopes that Spurs and Arsenal and fourth-placed Manchester City harbour of Leicester imploding are fading fast.
Leicester’s 3,000 fans were chanting “We’re gonna win the league” long after their side’s 1-0 win at Selhurst Park and while manager Claudio Ranieri refuses stubbornly to acknowledge his side are favourites, few would bet against the Foxes completing the job now.
“I think now we are close to achieving the Champions League spot,” was as far as Ranieri was prepared to venture when addressing reporters afterwards. “That is a great achievement, but it is step by step,” the Italian, whose side needs 18 points to be guaranteed the most unlikely of titles, added.
Leicester’s 13th league victory this season by a single-goal margin came courtesy of the outstanding Algerian Mahrez. With 34 minutes on the clock, England call-up Danny Drinkwater fed Jamie Vardy and his precise cross was an open invitation for Mahrez which he accepted with glee.
West Ham United’s hope of barging into the top four suffered a late setback at Chelsea where they were denied victory by Cesc Fabregas’s dubious late penalty. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.