Defending champ Leicester slips to relegation zone
LONDON (AP) — Hours after fired coach Claudio Ranieri bid farewell to the Leicester players, the calamitous champions slipped into the English Premier League’s relegation zone.
Crystal Palace’s 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday ensures Leicester will take to the field on Monday against Liverpool in the bottom three.
The reality of Leicester’s dire situation is stark for players who so incredibly won the league less than 10 months ago and are scrambling to convince fans they didn’t force out Ranieri.
“We are players and we can only affect (things) on the pitch; what happens above our heads at boardroom level is completely out of our control,” goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said after Ranieri’s training-ground send-off on Saturday. “He came in and said his peace to the players, thanked us for our efforts and for last season, and said goodbye.
“It’s a shame it’s come to this. You could hear that it hurt him and it hurts the players that we haven’t performed well enough to make this carry on.”
CRYSTAL PALACE 1, MIDDLESBROUGH 0
A first-half goal from Patrick van Aanholt gave Palace its first home win since Sam Allardyce took charge in December, taking the south London club out of the relegation zone.
CHELSEA 3, SWANSEA, 1
Cesc Fabregas reached 300 Premier League appearances with only his sixth start of the season, and he made the most of it. After dislodging Nemanja Matic from the lineup, the midfielder put Chelsea in front in the 19th minute with a deflected shot.
Pedro Rodriguez was the provider and Fabregas returned the favour after Fernando Llorente levelled with a header from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free kick on the stroke of halftime. Fabregas slotted the ball through for Pedro to curl into the net through goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski’s hands in the 72nd.
Any prospect of a second equalizer for Swansea ended when Diego Costa volleyed in his 16th goal of the league campaign from Eden Hazard’s cutback in the 84th.
EVERTON 2, SUNDERLAND 0
Sunderland manager David Moyes’ dismal record of failing to take any points off former teams Everton and Manchester United continued. Idrissa Gana Gueye scored his first league goal and Romelu Lukaku equaled Duncan Ferguson’s Everton-record of 60 league goals, leaving Sunderland three points from safety.
WEST BROM 2, BOURNEMOUTH 1
West Bromwich Albion kept up its pursuit of European qualification and sent Bournemouth sliding toward the relegation zone. Josh King’s penalty for Bournemouth was wiped out as defenders Craig Dawson and Gareth McAuley gave the hosts a seventh win in eight home games.
West Brom is eighth, four points behind Europa-chasing Everton
WATFORD 1, WEST HAM 1
Andre Ayew’s second-half goal cancelled out Watford captain Troy Deeney’s third-minute penalty. West Ham finished the game with 10 men after Michail Antonio was sent off in the 86th minute.
HULL 1, BURNLEY 1
Michael Keane redeemed himself after handling to concede a penalty that Tom Huddlestone converted in the 72nd minute. The defender produced the equalizer inside four minutes.