Premier League Recap: Leicester Deep in Relegation Peril, Man City Move Into Second

Swansea City 2, Leicester City 0

Goals

• Alfie Mawson (36′)
• Martin Olsson (45’+2′)

Recap

Two first-half goals from the Welsh club were enough to give them their third win in their last four league games while dropping the defending Premier League champions further into relegation danger.

Leicester City are now losers of five consecutive league matches, something no defending champion has done in six decades, and sit just one point above the relegation zone.

The game started off on a bad note for the eventual winners, as Nathan Dyer ruptured his left Achilles tendon just seven minutes in. Dyer, who is now out for the rest of the season, was subbed off for Wayne Routledge.

The visitors meanwhile saw Demarai Gray start up top next to Jamie Vardy after fans had been clamoring for Gray because of the potential and dynamism he’d shown in substitute appearances. Claudio Ranieri obliged, and put him in the starting eleven, but Leicester only managed one shot on goal during the entire match.

Swansea took the lead via a wonderful hit from Alfie Mawson at the 36th minute following a spell of continued Swansea attack.

Gylfi Sigurdsson whipped in a free kick from almost half-field, and the attempted clearance from Robert Huth fell to Federico Fernandez. The center-back headed the ball back across for Mawson, who’s right-footed volley flew into the back of the net.

https://twitter.com/NBCSportsSoccer/status/830818604375347200

The goal marks Mawson’s third goal already for Swansea City, and the young defender is looking like a great signing for the team after being brought over for 5.5 million pounds.

The first half woes deepened for the Foxes as Swansea doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime.

Some good triangulation from them down the left wing led to Sigurdsson springing Olsson free after he beat his defender for pace on a surging run from left back. Olsson took a few dribbles into the box, before smashing his left footed effort into the lower left corner, beating Kasper Schmeichel for Swansea’s second goal of the match.

Leicester tried to push on in the second half to try to salvage a point, but they were unable to break down a solid home defense after they sat back to protect their two goal lead. A couple of half-chances from substitute Islam Slimani and a shot sliced wide from Jamie Vardy were as close as the foxes could get.

Swansea now sits four points in safety, while Leicester City, currently in 17th, seem the team most likely to fall into the relegation zone among the teams not already there. They have yet to score a league goal in 2017, and haven’t done so since they last won a game in the Premier League, in early December in a 1-0 win over West Ham.