Jamie Vardy Double Takes Leicester City Nearer Title, Tottenham Hotspur Defeat Manchester United 3-0

Leicester City appear favourites to grab the Premier League following their 2-0 win over Sunderland. Tottenham Hotspur are second in the standings, seven points behind Leicester after Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela struck in six second-half minutes as they swamped Manchester United 3-0 on Sunday to keep the league leaders in sight. (Manchester City Bounce Back Against West Bromwich Albion, Keep Title Aspirations Alive)

Jamie Vardy's second-half double helped Leicester City go 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League as they enjoyed a hard-fought 2-0 win away to Sunderland on Sunday. (Claudio Ranieri Urges Leicester City to Target Champions League Spot and Maintain Consistency)

Claudio Ranieri's side are closing in on the English title after a fifth consecutive win. Regardless of what the chasing pack do, Leicester will be crowned champions for the first time in their history if they win three of their remaining five league games.

Leicester struggled to impose themselves on the relegation-threatened Black Cats, who deserved reward for their efforts, but remain third from bottom and four points from safety after a tense encounter at the Stadium of Light.

Vardy broke the deadlock in the 66th minute, sprinting onto a long, lofted through ball from Danny Drinkwater to outpace his marker Younes Kaboul before finding the bottom corner from a narrow angle past keeper Vito Mannone.

The England striker sealed the win in stoppage time, taking a pass from substitute Demarai Gray to run beyond Sunderland's trailing defence before rounding Mannone to roll the ball into an empty net.

Vardy now has 21 Premier League goals this season after hitting the net from open play for the first time in more than two months.

The outcome also prolonged, albeit probably briefly, Aston Villa's ever-present membership of the Premier League as the West Midlands club, currently cut adrift at the bottom of the table, would have had their seemingly inevitable relegation sealed in the event of a Sunderland win.

Later in the day, Alli, Alderweireld and Lamela struck in six second-half minutes as Tottenham swamped Manchester United 3-0 to keep Leicester City in sight.

A game delayed half an hour by United's late arrival due to traffic congestion burst to life in the 70th minute with three rapid-fire goals that allowed Spurs to trim Leicester's advantage back to seven points.

Leicester, 2-0 winners at Sunderland earlier in the day, remain overwhelming favourites for the title, but Spurs' display showed that Mauricio Pochettino's side will not give up without a fight.

Pochettino had not beaten United in six previous attempts, first with Southampton and then Tottenham, and Spurs had not scored against them in three games under him. Both trends were reversed in stunning fashion.

The result, Spurs' first home league win over United in 15 years, had the additional effect of securing Leicester's place in the Champions League and United's hopes of joining the Foxes at Europe's top table are fading.

Louis van Gaal's side finished the weekend four points below fourth-place Manchester City in fifth place, raising the stakes ahead of Wednesday's FA Cup quarter-final replay at West Ham United.

United's late arrival prevented them from warming up fully and there was ironic applause when they finally trotted out for the warm-up, five minutes after the scheduled kick-off time.

But with Leicester's earlier win contributing to a flat atmosphere -- United's fans mockingly chanting "You nearly won the league!" -- it was initially the hosts who looked like they had got ready in a hurry.