Murray stuns Chelsea, Mahrez hat-trick fires Leicester top

London: Glenn Murray’s 82nd-minute goal for Bournemouth condemned Chelsea to their worst defeat of a wretched season on Saturday (Dec 5), while Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick fired Leicester City top of the Premier League.

A run of three games without defeat in all competitions had suggested an upturn in Chelsea’s fortunes, only for Eddie Howe’s promoted Bournemouth to condemn the champions to their eighth defeat of the campaign.

Murray was the match-winner at Stamford Bridge, scoring 99 seconds after coming on to secure a 1-0 victory and leave Chelsea just three points above the relegation zone and turn the spotlight firmly back onto their manager Jose Mourinho.

It was Chelsea’s fourth home defeat of a dismal campaign, while Bournemouth were left to celebrate a famous result that lifted them out of the bottom three.

Mahrez scored three times as Leicester won 3-0 at Swansea City to recapture the summit from Manchester City, who crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Stoke City.

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy was bidding to equal Jimmy Dunne’s 83-year-old English top-flight record by scoring for the 12th game running, but it was Mahrez who stole the show.

Arsenal are now Leicester’s nearest rivals after a 3-1 home win over Sunderland, but Manchester United fell off the pace following a goalless draw with West Ham United.

Manchester City were well beaten at a windswept Britannia Stadium, where Stoke prevailed courtesy of a pair of early goals that were each created by Xherdan Shaqiri and finished by Marko Arnautovic.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side were left in third place, three points behind Leicester, while Mark Hughes’s Stoke moved up to 10th.

United were unable to follow Leicester and Arsenal’s lead as their goal-scoring problems resurfaced in a 0-0 draw at home to West Ham that left them level on points with City in fourth place.

Fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur also failed to make ground on the teams above them, drawing 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion after James McClean cancelled out Dele Alli’s volleyed 15th-minute opener for Spurs.

Bottom club Aston Villa earned a 1-1 draw at Southampton, while Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo struck as Watford beat Norwich City 2-0.