Southampton,

Jan 22,

(Reuters),

CHAMPIONS Leicester City’s alarming slump continued with a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Southampton on Sunday that left them just five points off the drop zone and firmly embroiled in a relegation fight.

First-half goals for James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez plus a late penalty by Dusan Tadic led the Saints to a comfortable win that came at the cost of an injury to key defender Virgil van Dyke, who hobbled off in the second half. Ward-Prowse opened the scoring after 26 minutes following good approach play from Cedric Soares, before Rodriguez doubled the lead in the 39th and Tadic thumped home the third.