Watch: Leicester's Vardy, Mahrez score great goals in win vs. Chelsea
Leicester City's dynamic Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have not been taking it easy on any of their Premier League counterparts, and defending champion Chelsea found out the hard way how real their success is.
The two combined for a pair of great goals in Leicester's 2-1 win over Chelsea, which put the Foxes back atop the Premier League table 16 games into the 2015-16 season.
Vardy got it started, tallying his league-leading 15th goal of the season in the 34th minute at King Power Stadium off an inch-perfect feed from Mahrez. After getting the ball in the left channel, Mahrez took three touches with his left foot, the third of which bent a perfect pass into Vardy's path. The 28-year-old English forward volleyed it home perfectly to open the scoring.
Mahrez showcased more deft footwork three minutes into the second half, showing great skill to take down a ball and then toying with Cesar Azpilicueta before putting a lethal finish by Thibaut Courtois for his 11th of the campaign.
Leicester leapfrogged Arsenal and sits two points clear of the Gunners with 35. Chelsea, which got its goal through Loic Remy in the 78th minute, is just a single point clear of the relegation zone, sitting in 16th place, a shocking 20 points behind Leicester.
That's increased the mounting pressure on Jose Mourinho, who turned on his players in his postgame remarks. According to the AP, Mourinho reacted with the following:
"I feel my work was betrayed," Mourinho said, turning on some of his players before suggesting that the team overachieved last season. "All last season I did a phenomenal work and brought them to a level that is not their level."
There, of course, is the added twist that Mourinho replaced then-Chelsea and current Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri at Stamford Bridge in 2004, with there being no love lost between the two managers.
