Everton vs Leicester City. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,570.
Saturday 19 December 2015 21:46, UK
Leicester City will be top of the Premier League at Christmas after securing a 3-2 win over Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Riyad Mahrez struck from the spot either side of the break, before Shinji Okazaki scored what proved the decider to render Romelu Lukaku's seventh consecutive top-flight strike and Kevin Mirallas' late effort in vain.
Jamie Vardy failed to find the target in front of watching England boss Roy Hodgson but history is on the Foxes' side as five of the last six teams to top the table on December 25 have gone on to become champions - Liverpool the only exception in 2013-14.
At a wet and miserable Goodison Park, the hosts started in the ascendancy and almost took the lead when Ross Barkley delivered a sensational cross into the area - only for Marcin Wasilewski to intercept at the feet of the unmarked Arouna Kone.
Barkley almost broke the deadlock himself when Lukaku delivered a sumptuous ball onto the left foot of the England midfielder, but the 22-year-old miscued from 10 yards out.
It was Leicester, however, who opened the scoring when Ramiro Funes-Mori brought down the pacey Okazaki, Mahrez duly slotting past Tim Howard with 27 minutes gone for his 12th goal of the season.
Just four minutes later, Lukaku fired home from six yards to maintain his Premier League goalscoring run, the Belgian now four games behind the record set by Vardy.
Barkley had shimmied past the Leicester defence but though he saw his shot cleared off the line by Andy King, the ball popped out towards Lukaku, who became the first Everton player to score in eight successive games in all competitions since Dave Hickson in 1954.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Leicester were awarded another penalty after Vardy was taken down - with referee Jon Moss dishing out a yellow card for Howard.
Mahrez stepped up again and fired into the bottom-right corner to score his 13th goal of the campaign.
The visitors extended their lead just four minutes later when Vardy picked out the unmarked Okazaki in the area, who fired a left-footed strike past a sprawling Howard.
In the dying embers of the game, Barkley played a wonderful backheel into the path of Mirallas, who fired past a sprawling Kasper Schmeichel (89) to set up a tense finale.
But Claudio Ranieri's men held on to secure their 11th win of a remarkable season and move five points clear of Arsenal - who face Manchester City on Monday Night Football.
Paul Merson's Soccer Saturday verdict
"I know how hard this league is - when it gets down to the nitty gritty and how ruthless it is you can lose four games in a blink of an eye. The games Leicester have had - and they're hard games - they've come through them all. I have to say they'll get in the top four; it'd be disrespectful not to say that now when you see where they've been and won. They've gone to Everton and scored three goals. They keep on winning."
Player ratings
Everton: Howard (5), Baines (5), Funes Mori (5), Stones (6), Coleman (6), Barry (6), Cleverley (6), Kone (5), Barkley (7), Deulofeu (6), Lukaku (7).
Subs: Mirallas (7), Lennon (6)
Leicester: Schmeichel (6), Simpson (6), Morgan (7), Wasilewski (7), Fuchs (8), Mahrez (9), Kante (7), King (6), Albrighton (7), Okazaki (8), Vardy (7).
Subs: De Laet (6), Ulloa (6), Dyer (6)
Man of the match: Riyad Mahrez
