Leicester City 5-0 Southampton live match reaction

Full-time: City 5-0 Southampton

The performance of the season leaves City one win from promotion. Fatawu the man of the moment with a hat-trick. Domination.

Reaction to come.

Five minutes added

And City are seeing it out comfortably. Coady has had two good moments since coming on, heading a cross over his own bar and blocking a shot. But otherwise Southampton haven't had a sniff.

Fatawu off to standing ovation

Fatawu goes off to a standing ovation. That is the performance of the season.

McAteer is on for him. And actually, we've had a few subs for City. It's Daka for Vardy, Praet for Ndidi, and Coady for Vestergaard too.

GOAL!!! It's 5-0! Hat-trick for Fatawu!

He's done it!

What a moment. City break and Dewsbury-Hall goes left to Vardy and he rolls it across for Fatawu to tap in for his hat-trick. A stunning display from the Ghanaian is rewarded.

GOAL!!! Vardy makes it four! It's a riot!

This is huge!

It's brilliant from Fatawu. He looks like he's going to go on his left but then teases a ball in on his right and Vardy runs in to meet it with a first-time finish. Lovely goal.

GOAL!!! Stunning from Fatawu!

My word, what a goal that is!

That's classic Fatawu. He gets the ball on the right wing, runs inside his full-back with nobody capable of stopping him, and then bends a shot into the far corner.

City are heading for victory and one win from promotion.

City seeing it out well so far

So far, so good. Vestergaard has been booked for one too many fouls, but otherwise there's been no sign of Saints comeback. Their few attacks have seen sub Edozie found in behind Choudhury, but he's been offside every time.

GOAL!!! Ndidi heads in!

City lead by two! And it's a thumping header from Ndidi for his second in two games.

The Nigerian wins it back, and City work the ball from right to left, Vardy flicking out to Mavididi. He stands up Bree then teases in a cross that Ndidi rushes in to powerfully head through McCarthy's legs.

City have now made their first change too. It's Choudhury for Ricardo.

Two more Fatawu shots and a missed opportunity

First Fatawu slices wide with his right foot, then he beats Walker-Peters all ends up with a change of pace, but gets the pass to Vardy wrong. He perhaps should have gone himself.

Then the high press forces an error that gives Fatawu the ball back, this time the Ghanaian bending wide with his left foot.

Feisty start to second period

We've had lots of free-kicks given in the first few minutes of the second half, mostly to Southampton, to the frustration of the home crowd.

The Saints have definitely come out strong in their search for an equaliser.

City mess up the kick-off

Southampton only had one shot in the first half but they've had one within 10 seconds of the second period after City messed up the kick-off. Adams effort is blocked.

Half-time: City 1-0 Southampton

That's a strong half. City much the better team and they have their reward for it. Fatawu's goal was controversial though, both for the Faes challenge and the offside call.

But on the balance, City have been much better. They're in control. Ricardo, Faes and Justin aren't letting Armstrong, Adams, and Brooks have a sniff.

Southampton change

We have a Southampton change as Smallbone comes on for Rothwell. That's like for like and looks to be because of injury.

Meanwhile, City are well on top. They're playing really well here.

Excellent swift attack from City

That's a brilliant move. That's what fans want to see. Faes and Hermansen bait the press then work it out to Ricardo and City are away.

It's a great ball through to Dewsbury-Hall from Ricardo and the former plays a one-two with Vardy. He just slows down a little too much and that allows Saints bodies to get in and block

Martin and Maresca discuss controversial goal

We've got a break in play while Fatawu receives treatment and that allows us to see some replays of the two managers in conversation with the fourth official over the Faes and Adams incident in the lead up to the goal.

It looks like Faes tries to get around Adams to intercept, and the Saints striker moves across him, tripping Faes, with the ball then bouncing off Adams. Honestly, both teams could argue it's a foul on their player.

GOAL!!! Fatawu puts City ahead!

City lead! And it looks like a controversial one.

Faes flies in to intercept a ball forward. It looks like he goes through the back of Adams but ref Bobby Madley deems he got the ball.

From there, it's a couple of simple passes, with Dewsbury-Hall threading through after Fatawu ran off the back of Walker-Peters' shoulder. It looks tight for offside against Harwood-Bellis at the back post. But the flag stays down and Fatawu keeps his cool to slide his shot into the bottom corner.

Close!

Fatawu swings in a deep cross and it looks like it's flying out for a goal kick, but Mavididi does terrifically well to keep it in, forcing McCarthy to parry up into the air. Vardy dashes in for the rebound, but is guilty of barging Bednarek in the back.

Southampton come back into it

Since that good City spell, Southampton have composed themselves and had their own period of possession.

It ends with their first shot as Armstong and Adams link up, the former getting an effort away from 20 yards, blocked by Faes.

Chances for City as they get into their stride

City are getting into their stride. They definitely look the better team at the moment.

Ricardo intercepts and a few quick passes between him, Winks and Dewsbury-Hall get Fatawu away and he cuts inside Walker-Peters before firing a shot straight at McCarthy.

And now we've had two more chances. The first Fatawu doesn't get a deflected cross back to Dewsbury-Hall quickly enough, and so he's charged down. Then Ndidi curls a beauty just past the far post.

Scramble!

We have our first moment of goalmouth action. Two simple passes by Vestergaard and Ndidi get the ball to Mavididi and he runs at Bree, twice getting shots away, both blocked, from the angle.

The second one squirms through and Dewsbury-Hall tries to turn it goalwards, but Southampton clear.

Walker-Peters up against Fatawu

While he's usually on the right of the Southampton back four, Walker-Peters is on the left today. He can play both sides, but could he be there just to keep tabs on Fatawu? Possibly.

There's not been much in the game so far. A few loose touches from both teams.

Dewsbury-Hall and Ndidi on opposite sides

It's not something fans like, and it's not something that tends to be conducive to them playing well, but Dewsbury-Hall is on the right of the two attacking midfielders and Ndidi is on the left.

When he's spoken about this before, Maresca has said it's because of the way City want to press.

In the early stages, we're also seeing Justin push forward when Hermansen has the ball and offer himself as a long-ball outlet.

Kick-off!

We are under way! Three points for City and they'll be one win from the Premier League. Fingers crossed.

Here come the players

The flames are up again as the two teams make their way onto the pitch.

The last time Southampton were here, they left with a 2-1 win. Che Adams, born in Thurnby Lodge, scored both.

Lights go down

The floodlights have been turned off and we've got a few flashing blue strobes, fireworks, flames, and a brand new montage to get supporters pumped up for the game today.

How Southampton line up

There are three changes for the visitors as Charles, Bree, and Rothwell come in for Manning, Smallbone, and Stuart Armstrong.

Shea Charles is the interesting inclusion there for the Saints. It's the 20-year-old's first start in 12 Championship games.

City team news as Vardy, Ricardo and Justin start

Jamie Vardy starts up front for the second time in four as Enzo Maresca makes just two changes to his Leicester City side for the big promotion clash with Southampton.

Vardy is rarely in the 11 two games in a row but leads the line again against the Saints, just a few days after he started and scored against West Brom. The only two changes to the team come in defence.

Despite his heroics against West Brom, Hamza Choudhury drops out and Ricardo Pereira comes back into the team at right-back. The Portuguese had been rested against the Baggies after three lots of 90 minutes in seven days the week before.

The other change sees James Justin come in at left-back. That means Wout Faes returns to his traditional role as a centre-back, with Conor Coady back on the bench.

City (4-3-3): Hermansen; Ricardo, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Winks, Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Vardy, Mavididi.Subs: Stolarczyk, Coady, Doyle, Choudhury, Praet, Yunus, McAteer, Daka, Cannon.

Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (Image: PA)

Team news coming up

We're just over 10 minutes from team news. Here's a few decisions for Maresca to make:

Does he stick with Choudhury after his heroics on Saturday or does Ricardo come back in?Does Coady stay in, and Faes stay at left-back, or does one of Doyle or Justin come in?Does Vardy start two games in a row or does one of Daka, Cannon, or Iheanacho come in?Enzo Maresca celebrates with Hamza Choudhury after Leicester City's 2-1 win over West Brom (Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)

Promotion permutations

So there'll be no big celebration tonight. City can't be promoted today. But here's what each result means for them going forward.

If City win, then they will need just one victory from their final two games against Preston and Blackburn. Equally, with victory tonight, they would be promoted if Leeds then lost to QPR on Friday night.

If City draw, then they would still need two wins from the games against Preston and Blackburn. Obviously a point could make a big difference, but as they would still need five more to be guaranteed of going up, they would still have to beat both Preston and Blackburn to ensure Leeds and Ipswich can't catch them. A draw tonight would guarantee them third though, as the Saints would then be too far back.

If City lose, then that's their buffer gone. They have to beat Preston and Blackburn to be guaranteed of going up. It would also mean the title is no longer in their hands, as three wins for Ipswich would put them in first.

Enzo Maresca gees up the Leicester City crowd after the 2-1 victory over West Brom (Image: Anna Gowthorpe/REX/Shutterstock)