Foxes exact Puel revenge on Saints
CLAUDE PUEL enjoyed the sweetest of St Mary’s returns as the Foxes ripped Southampton to shreds to give Leicester their fourth victory in a row.
The former Saints boss looked on with a smile of satisfaction as his new players stunned his old ones.
“Are you glad you sacked Puel?” rang out from the away end as Leicester celebrated going two up at St Mary’s after just half an hour.
Puel was axed by the Saints despite leading them to eighth in the league and to a first major cup final in 14 years.
According to many on the south coast, it was the style and lack of goals that cost the Frenchman his job, though there was nothing boring about the way the Foxes hunted down his old club.
It was a torrid first half for Puel’s successor, Mauricio Pellegrino, whose team were three behind going into half-time.
Southampton were almost in front in the second minute after Maya Yoshida went close from a Steven Davis corner.
But Riyad Mahrez got the evening off to a perfect start for his manager as he swapped passes with Shinji Okazaki before racing across the Saints midfield and firing low into the right corner.
It was Mahrez’s third goal in four games and the Algerian is rediscovering his best form under Puel.
Leicester were running riot and could have scored three more before the break.
Okazaki, above, twice went close and was only prevented from scoring by a brilliant save from Fraser Forster and a goal-line clearance by Mario Lemina.
Then, another Foxes counter almost resulted in a goal, with Forster again saving superbly from Jamie Vardy at close range.
But Puel’s side did score the second goal they deserved from the resulting corner as Christian Fuchs smashed Mahrez’s delivery into the box and Okazaki was on hand to tap in after a series of deflections.
The chant changed to “Easy, easy” as Andy King scored the third from Harry Maguire’s cross seven minutes before half-time.
It was the first time Southampton had conceded three goals in the first half at St Mary’s for 12 years and they were loudly booed off.
The Saints were first to score after the break when Yoshida headed in from Ryan Bertrand’s corner.
And striker Charlie Austin then almost slid home a second from Bertrand’s cross.
But all hope was extinguished for Southampton when Vardy crossed for Okazaki to fire home his second and guarantee Leicester’s fine form continued.