Our Michael Yiakoumi with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers who beat Southampton 9-0.

Leicester City recorded the biggest ever English top-flight away win by beating 10-man Southampton 9-0 at a rain-sodden St Mary’s to move up to second place in the Premier League on Friday.

The biggest margin of victory on the road previously was eight goals, a joint record held by three clubs.

It was also the first time a team had scored nine away goals in the Premier League and equalled Manchester United’s record 9-0 Premier League win achieved at home to Ipswich Town in 1995.

The 2016 champions Leicester moved to 20 points from 10 games, their best start to a Premier League campaign, that leaves them eight points behind leaders Liverpool and and second to Manchester City.

Vardy plus goals by Youri Tielemans, Ben Chilwell and James Maddison inflicted Southampton’s biggest home defeat in their 133-year history.

“I’m very proud of the team,” said Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers. “To finish with nine (goals) was a remarkable effort away from home.

“We said at halftime… keep your tactical discipline, keep your speed in the game and we have to punish them. We have to do our job and score as many goals as we can and also keep a clean sheet.”

Saints lost Ryan Bertrand to an early red card and were shambolic in defence as they slipped into the relegation zone on goal difference after taking one home point this season.

Southampton’s heaviest Premier League defeat had been a 7-1 reverse to Liverpool 20 years ago, another unwanted record for their under pressure manager Ralph Hasenhuettl.

“It was an embarrassing performance, the stuff of nightmares and especially playing at home,” said Saints’ forward Nathan Redmond.

“It just wasn’t good enough and one of the poorest performances since I’ve been at the club and we’ll have to debrief that whole game from start to finish tomorrow.”

DOUBLE BLOW

There was a double blow for the hosts after 10 minutes when Chilwell tapped home a rebound to give Leicester the lead after Vardy’s shot was only parried by goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

A check by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) showed a crude lunge by Bertrand on Perez in the build-up to the goal and the Southampton defender received his marching orders.

From there, Leicester were able to cut through their opponents at will.

Saints defender Yan Valery could only steer a poor clearance into the path of Tielemans to score after 17 minutes and two minutes later the latter turned provider for Perez to open his Leicester account.

He grabbed his second with a volley at the back post from Chilwell’s cross in the 39th, and the home humiliation was compounded when Vardy blasted past Gunn just before the break for a 5-0 lead.

Rampant Leicester added two more before the hour mark as Perez completed his hat-trick with a neat volley and Vardy was left unmarked to head home Chilwell’s cross.

Maddison added to the home misery with a 25-metre free-kick before Vardy completed his hat-trick with the last kick of the game via a penalty.

It was the biggest English top flight win on the road since Wolverhampton Wanderers trounced Cardiff City 9-1 in the old First Division in 1955. Sunderland thrashed Newcastle United 9-1 away in 1908 while West Bromwich Albion beat Wolves 8-0 in 1893.

– Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to three points with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, while a hat-trick by American Christian Pulisic helped steer Chelsea to a 4-2 victory at Burnley.

City struggled to get going in the first half at the Etihad Stadium, with Villa having several chances to take the lead, but three second-half goals saw the home side move to 22 points and put pressure on Liverpool, who host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Chelsea moved level on 20 points with third-placed Leicester City — who recorded the biggest ever English top-flight away victory with a 9-0 mauling of Southampton on Friday — after a Pulisic-inspired success at Burnley’s Turf Moor.

City, though, aiming to avoid a second successive home league defeat, looked a shadow of the unstoppable juggernaut that stormed to the title last season, with Villa troubling the champions in the first half in the pouring rain.

However, just 20 seconds into the second half, Raheem Sterling latched onto a Gabriel Jesus flick to score his 13th goal of the season in all competitions to give City the lead.

Kevin De Bruyne’s cross seemed to go all the way into the bottom corner for City’s second, with the goal initially awarded to the Belgian, but a Goal Accreditation Panel review after the match adjudged David Silva to have got a touch.

VAR was heavily involved at The Etihad, with City’s second goal undergoing a lengthy review for a potential offside call against Sterling, but it was allowed to stand, much to Villa’s frustration.

Ilkay Gundogan made sure of the three points with a scissor kick finish, with Fernandinho’s late red card tarnishing the result for the hosts

“Six days ago we were eight points (behind Liverpool), now it’s three,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “That’s good experience for us but they have to play tomorrow. I’m not concerned with the table.

“If we play like we did in the first half we’ll be in the relegation positions.

U.S international Pulisic has been forced to wait for his chance to really make a mark on English football following a close-season move to Chelsea after he signed for the west London club in January but stayed at Borussia Dortmund on loan.

However, making his first start in the league since the end of August, Pulisic registered his first goal in English football in the 21st minute with fine finish, and never looked back.

The 21-year-old added a second on the stroke of halftime, before a brilliant header sealed his hat-trick and made him the youngest Chelsea player to score a Premier League treble.

“I think he (Pulisic) has had to bide his time but when he has come in he has done really well,” Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori told Sky Sports. “And to score a hat-trick, there’s nothing better and I’m really happy for him.

“Winning is a habit and the longer we keep on going, who knows where we can end up.”

A superb solo effort from Willian made it 4-0 before Burnley scored two late consolation goals but Chelsea saw out their seventh consecutive win in all competitions as Frank Lampard’s young side continue to look impressive.

However, the pressure is mounting on Everton manager Marco Silva as his side slipped to a sixth defeat of the season in controversial circumstances in a 3-2 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Defender Lucas Digne’s own goal deep into stoppage time completed a superb comeback after Everton had led 2-1 going into the last 10 minutes of the match.

With Everton looking like securing their first away win of the season, livewire Brighton forward Aaron Connolly appealed for a foul in the penalty area by Michael Keane.

Initially, the referee did not give the spot-kick but it became the first to be awarded in the Premier League by VAR after a review, and Neal Maupay put the ball straight down the middle to make it 2-2, before Digne’s misfortune.

Sheffield United moved up to seventh after a 1-1 draw at West Ham United, while Watford and Bournemouth drew 0-0.

Liverpool’s Anfield fortress was briefly shaken by Tottenham Hotspur but Juergen Klopp’s side recovered to secure a 2-1 win and restore their six-point lead atop the Premier League on Sunday.

Manchester United claimed their first away league victory of the season, beating Norwich City 3-1 despite missing two VAR-awarded penalties, and Arsenal squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Crystal Palace.

Newcastle United remained one point above the bottom three after drawing 1-1 at home with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Liverpool’s unbeaten Premier League run at Anfield now stands at 45 but when Harry Kane put Tottenham in front after 48 seconds and the visitors led at the interval it appeared their marauding start to the season was in danger of ending.

Kane headed in after Son Heung-min’s deflected shot struck the woodwork and the visitors led a charmed life as their keeper Paulo Gazzaniga pulled off some superb saves.

Son also hit the bar early in the second half but Liverpool equalised soon after through Jordan Henderson before Serge Aurier’s rash challenge handed Liverpool a penalty which Mohamed Salah tucked away.

Liverpool survived late scares but moved to 28 points from their opening 10 games — two more than they earned from the same period last season when they went on to finish runners-up to Manchester City. City, who beat Aston Villa on Saturday, have 22 points.

Tottenham, in 11th place after a fourth defeat of the season, find themselves in the bottom half of the table heading into November for the first time under Mauricio Pochettino.

The only bright note was Kane’s opportunist effort which took him to equal third with Martin Chivers on Tottenham’s all-time scoring list on 174 goals.

VAR reared its head again elsewhere on Sunday.

Manchester United were awarded two penalties in the opening half against Norwich, the first after referee Stuart Attwell appeared rightly to not give a spot-kick when United’s Daniel James and Ben Godfrey tangled.

United were awarded another penalty via VAR for a Todd Cantwell handball. Both were saved by Tim Krul, the first from Marcus Rashford and the second from Anthony Martial.

NO CONSEQUENCE

First-half goals by Scott McTominay and Rashford and one from Martial after the break ensured the misses did not matter too much.

“VAR is there to help but when it takes ages like the first penalty, it is not a clear and obvious error,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose side climbed to to seventh, said. “When it took that long, it is a signal that it should not have been.”

Arsenal were 2-0 up at home to Palace inside nine minutes with goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz.

Palace halved the deficit when Luka Milivojevic scored from the spot following a VAR intervention after referee Martin Atkinson had initially booked Wilfried Zaha for diving.

Jordan Ayew headed Palace level in the 52nd minute but VAR was again in action when Sokratis thought he had won it for the hosts in the dying minutes but his effort was ruled out for a foul by Callum Chambers on Gary Cahill.

It left Arsenal four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea who won at Burnley on Saturday. Palace are sixth.

“For me there is no confusion — it is not a good decision,” Arsenal manager Unai Emery said.

“We deserved to win, we had a good reaction after they equalised, we scored but then they didn’t count it.”

Jonny rescued a point for Wolves after Jamaal Lascelles had given Newcastle the lead. The hosts ended with 10 men after Sean Longstaff was sent off.

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