Premier League: Southampton hammer champions Leicester to push them closer to relegation

Champions Leicester City's alarming slump continued with a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Southampton on Sunday that left them just five points off the drop zone and firmly embroiled in a relegation fight.

First-half goals for James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez plus a late penalty by Dusan Tadic led the Saints to a comfortable win that came at the cost of an injury to key defender Virgil van Dyke, who hobbled off in the second half.

Ward-Prowse opened the scoring after 26 minutes following good approach play from Cedric Soares, before Rodriguez doubled the lead in the 39th after reacting quickest to a bouncing ball in the box to fire a left-foot shot past the keeper.

After the break, Wes Morgan was fortunate when his own goal was ruled out for offside but Leicester's captain then held back Shane Long for a penalty that Tadic thumped home as Southampton emphatically ended a run of four successive league defeats.