Leicester City 5-0 Southampton: Abdul Fatawu scores hat-trick as Foxes edge closer to promotion

Leicester hammered Southampton 5-0 to move within one win of promotion back to the Premier League.

A hat-trick from Abdul Fatawu alongside goals from Wilfried Ndidi and Jamie Vardy proved more than enough to see off a poor Saints at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester now know that a win at Preston next Monday night - live on Sky Sports Football ­­- will be enough to guarantee their return to the Premier League.

For the Saints, the defeat all-but condemns them to the play-offs. They are six points behind Leeds in second with a significantly inferior goal difference and just two games to play.

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The breakthrough for Leicester came on 25 minutes. Wout Faes won the ball back from Che Adams and Harry Winks sprang the ball forward to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who fed Fatawu with a pinpoint pass in the box, and he slid the ball calmly past Alex McCarthy.

Southampton boss Russell Martin wasn't happy, believing Adams was fouled in the build-up and then Fatawu was offside, but the goal was given.

The Saints came out strongly after half-time, but it was Leicester who struck next. Just after the hour mark they won the ball high up the pitch and Stephy Mavididi crossed for Ndidi to head in.

Fatawu then got his second with a brilliant effort from the edge of the box, cutting in from the right and then bending one past McCarthy. He then teed up Vardy for Leicester's fourth, as his low cross was met by the striker, who swept in at the near post.

And the night's scoring was completed with aplomb by Fatawu, who turned in Vardy's cross after a swift counter-attack had cut Southampton open.

Leicester's Enzo Maresca:

"I said that since we started they have been fantastic in how they've been open-minded in