Leicester put in a Champions performance
Leicester hardly missed Jamie Vardy and his goal scoring exploits as they put four past Swansea at the Kingpower Stadium, the first time they have scored that many goals since August.
Riyad Mahrez got things underway after an Ashley Williams howler before Vardy's stand in Leonardo Ulloa bagged a brace with Marc Albrighton adding some gloss late on in what was a magnificent team performance.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leicester have now won as many games at home this season (11) as they did in the entirety of the 2014/15 campaign (11). Huge turnaround.</p>— Squawka Football (@Squawka) <a href="https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/724287298053922816">April 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Its now 10 games since the Foxes have been defeated, but this was their most emphatic performance after a series of 1-0 wins and draws.
For the full 90 minutes Leicester controlled the game, with Mahrez's opener settling any nerves about their attacking threat, although Swansea had the look of a side who had already packed their bags for the summer holidays.
It was only recently that Claudio Ranieri admitted that his side could win the title, and with eight points to spare over their nearest rivals and in this kind of form, it would take a brave man to bet against them.
Big Sam working his magic
Sam Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League as a manager, and he is doing his level best to keep that record going after another encouraging result today.
A scoreless draw against Arsenal hardly set the world alight but its enough to take the Black Cats out of the relegation zone on goal difference, with Norwich slipping into 18th place.
Without doubt Big Sam has steadied the ship at the Stadium of Light after their disastrous start to the season, and while his win ratio is at just 27% since taking over, recent form indicates an upward trend at the club.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">3 - Sunderland have kept three clean sheets in their last four top-flight games after conceding in each of the 16 before that. Solidify.</p>— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/724251251240742914">April 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Following a difficult start to life at the club, including losing five games in a row, the results have started to come for the Tyneside club in recent weeks, with Sunderland picking up points in nine of their last 11 games.
Granted just two of those have been victories, against Manchester United and Norwich City, but with a game in hand over relegation rivals Newcastle and Norwich finding results hard to come by in recent times, Big Sam will surely fancy his chances of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League next season.
Palace put Premier League woes behind them to set up Wembley final
Alan Pardew's charges are having a torrid time of late in the Premier League, having just one victory since the New Year, but Connor Wickham's 61st minute goal fired them into an FA Cup final next month.
Mathematically speaking, Palace are still involved in a relegation battle as they sit on 39 points but that seems an afterthought now as they will play in their first FA Cup final since 1990.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alan Pardew on the FA Cup final: "We're playing the biggest team in the world (Man Utd). It's a big challenge." <a href="https://t.co/1idWcRuwGO">pic.twitter.com/1idWcRuwGO</a></p>— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/SquawkaNews/status/724290349712154626">April 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Progression to the final stage provides some much needed relief for the Eagles, as it gives them a Wembley date to look forward to and an opportunity to play in the Europa League next season, provided they win on the 15th of May.
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