Mahrez magic puts 5-4 Foxes in great position

LEICESTER moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League after the Foxes took full advantage of Tottenham and Arsenal sharing the spoils earlier in the day

The 5,000-1 ante-post shots made a big leap towards the title following a 1-0 win at Watford thanks to a goal of real quality from Riyad Mahrez.

Claudio Ranieri’s side are 5-4 with Paddy Power for a fairytale success, while a pulsating derby finished 2-2 but both north London clubs were left pining for more at White Hart Lane.

Spurs are 11-4 to win the Premier League with Arsenal out to 5-1, although it could have been much worse for the ten-man Gunners had Alexis Sanchez not netted a late leveller.

Aaron Ramsey’s first-half strike put Arsenal in front but Francis Coquelin’s red card for two yellow-card offences put them into panic mode and within seven minutes Tottenham were leading.

Toby Alderweireld equalised and Harry Kane’s thunderbolt saw Spurs cut to 5-4 with Sky Bet to win the title as they briefly hit the summit before Sanchez struck to keep Arsenal in the hunt.

However, third-placed Arsenal are only two points clear of Manchester City, who have also played one fewer game after the League Cup winners beat Aston Villa 4-0.

All the goals came in the second half at the Etihad with Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero (two) on target for Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Aguero also missed a penalty.

City, the most experienced of the quartet in the title race, will still believe they can do enough in their final ten matches to reclaim the championship.

Next up for them is Norwich and City are 11-2 to win the Premier League.

West Ham continued their unlikely bid for Champions League qualification with a stunning 3-2 comeback triumph at Goodison Park.

Despite Kevin Mirallas’s first-half red card, Everton were cruising with a 2-0 lead and Romelu Lukaku even missed a penalty for the Merseysiders before three West Ham goals in the final 11 minutes turned a frantic match on its head as the Hammers moved up to fifth.

It now looks like two from three will join rock-bottom Villa in the Sky Bet Championship next season after Saturday’s results saw a gap of eight points develop between 17th-placed Sunderland and 16th-placed Swansea.

Villa are nine points from safety and seemingly down, but Norwich and Newcastle are 3-10 and 4-6 respectively following their latest defeats.

Norwich lost 1-0 at Swansea with Gylfi Sigurdsson on target while Newcastle suffered a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Bournemouth to increase the pressure on Steve McClaren.

The Magpies manager is 1-2 with Sky Bet to be the next top-flight boss to leave his current position and the only relief for Newcastle came at St Mary’s where ten-man Southampton equalised at the death to earn a 1-1 draw against Sunderland.

It looked as if Jermain Defoe’s goal with five minutes remaining would earn the Black Cats a crucial road success only for Virgil van Dijk to snatch a point for Saints. Sunderland are 1-2 to be relegated.

Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke.