Leicester City have chalked up another victory to take a step nearer to winning the Premier League title and one of the most unlikely achievements in sporting memory.
Two goals from Jamie Vardy on Sunday gave them a 2-0 win at relegation-threatened Sunderland but Tottenham stayed in touch after a 3-0 win over Manchester United in the day’s late match.
Tottenham’s win over United guaranteed that Leicester cannot finish outside the top four, meaning they will qualify for the Champions League next season.
With five games apiece remaining, their fate is very much in their own hands but manager Claudio Ranieri said they cannot afford to get ahead of themselves.
“I am very happy for the three points,” Ranieri said.
“Our performance was very solid, of course they had the chance to draw but we had three or four chances to finish it early.”
Jack Rodwell missed a golden chance to equalise for Sunderland before Vardy sealed the points with his 21st goal of the league season to put Leicester, a 5000-1 chance before the season began, closer to the title.
“The fans must continue to dream but we must continue to be concentrated and focused,” Ranieri said.
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce said his players had been nervous because of the situation staring them in the face.
“It’s a legacy of not picking up the points when we should have done,” he said.
“That caused us to do the wrong things to try and get back in the game. We didn’t pass it anywhere near as well as we can. I think that was the main problem, not Leicester.
“We are under extreme pressure that we have to make sure we handle.”
Tottenham’s match with Manchester United was delayed for 30 minutes because the visitors were stuck in traffic.
The first half was a cagey affair and neither side looked likely to score until teenager Dele Alli finished off Christian Eriksen’s cross with 20 minutes to go.
That was the signal for the floodgates to open and after Toby Alderweireld made it 2-0 four minutes later with a thumping header, Erik Lamela scored Tottenham’s third, all three goals coming in the space of six minutes.
In the day’s other match, Liverpool moved up to eighth after a 4-1 win over Stoke City in what was also a successful rehearsal for Thursday’s Europa League return leg against Borussia Dortmund.
Divock Origi scored twice, Daniel Sturridge was on the scoresheet and Alberto Moreno got the other to lift Liverpool to within five points of fifth-placed United, with a game in hand.
“Today, I’m really proud,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
“We made changes and it was a completely new formation. I’m sure the players have never played together before in this line-up.
“Stoke played 70 to 80 per cent long balls to Peter Crouch, and you have to be tuned into that.
“We were quickly tuned after a half-session on the training ground yesterday. It was a smart performance.”
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