Chelsea end worst run, Vardy equals record

Jamie Vardy equalled the Premier League record by scoring for a 10th successive match as his Leicester City side went top after winning 3-0 at Newcastle United while champions Chelsea ended their slump with a 1-0 win over Norwich City on Saturday.

Chelsea players celebrating Diego Costa’s goal

Leicester going top was the highlight of a memorable afternoon when ‘La Marseillaise’, the French national anthem, was played at grounds throughout England as a mark of solidarity with France following last week’s Paris attacks.

Chelsea’s French defender Kurt Zouma led a rendition of the anthem at Stamford Bridge where a huge French flag was also displayed before the champions ended a run of three successive league defeats with victory over Norwich City thanks to a second-half goal from Diego Costa.

That lifted Chelsea up one place to 15th on 14 points, but still a long way behind the leaders.

Leicester top the table with 28 points from 13 matches, followed by Manchester United on 27 and Manchester City and Arsenal on 26.

City will reclaim first place if they beat Liverpool in the late match at the Etihad Stadium.

While Vardy equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 12-year-old scoring record, Leonardo Ulloa and Shinji Okazaki also scored for Leicester.

Claudio Ranieri’s side stayed above Manchester United, who won 2-1 at Watford and were briefly top after a dramatic finale at Vicarage Road.

United led 1-0 following an 11th minute volley from Memphis Depay before Troy Deeney equalised with an 87th-minute penalty but then scored an own goal in stoppage time to give United victory.

Arsenal slipped back to fourth after losing 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion where Mikel Arteta put through his own net and Santi Cazorla missed a penalty, while Aston Villa stayed nailed to the bottom after losing 4-0 at Everton.