The race to finish in the top two of the Championship is now much obvious. Leicester City defeated Southampton 5-0, securing their position at the top of the Championship table.
Following Leeds’ vital win at Middlesbrough, the top three were separated by only four points heading into the game. Leicester welcomed a Saints team that needed a win to complete a late top-two return.
They needed to defeat Enzo Maresca’s team to get within two points of Ipswich. But it was always going to be Leicester’s night at the King Power Stadium, even if they only led 1-0 until after the hour mark.
Abdul Fatawu scored on 25 minutes. Southampton, however, capitulated after Wilfried Ndidi scored the second goal on the 62nd minute. Fatawu went on to score a hat trick, with Jamie Vardy also scoring once.
Leicester put two hands on the Championship title with a 5-0 victory.
Vardy commented after the game about Leicester’s need to stay focused and get the job done, but the Championship title is pretty much decided now. Leicester leads by four.
With two games remaining, Maresca’s team has more than one shot at the title, and a victory on Monday night will be required to seal it. Southampton is in the play-offs, six points behind Leeds with two games to play.
Russell Martin’s team will make the play-offs despite having a significantly lower goal difference. So the focus now shifts to the struggle for second place between Leeds and Ipswich. Leeds have 90 from 44, while Ipswich have 89 from 43.
Neil Warnock wants Ipswich to be promoted over Leeds.
Neil Warnock talked to Sky Sports ahead of Leicester’s win over Southampton, explaining why he would like to see Ipswich promoted – and, given the table, it would put them ahead of his former Leeds club.
“If you look at the top four clubs, three of which you would expect to be promoted without a doubt, you’ll see that Ipswich is performing extremely well. I voted for him as my manager of the year.
“It’s going to be a fantastic finish to the season; I’m looking forward to it. “I love the underdog, so I hope Ipswich keep going and spoil the party,” Warnock remarked in his pre-match analysis on Sky Sports.
