Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy was relieved to see his side end their long wait for a home goal in the Premier League as they comfortably defeated Southampton 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.
A clash between two already-relegated teams was broken open by Jamie Vardy’s 199th goal for the Foxes which ended a drought of 826 minutes of not scoring on their own patch in the league.
It set Leicester on their way to a first win since January, while it ensured the Saints will end the season bottom of the table, with only three games left to move off 11 points and avoid equalling the competition’s lowest-ever total.
Van Nistelrooy said: “The performance provided the three points.
“The first goal was finished in style and it gave us that lead that we needed, and the first goal, of course, at home in a long, long time. We were ready to break that cycle today.
“It was a relief to go ahead in the game – I can’t remember the last time that we did.
“Obviously, going two up was great and was a boost for the team and also everyone in the stadium.
“For me, it was important that I saw a team today that was fighting to do well and wanted to break a cycle of home games [without scoring], that wanted to get a clean sheet and wanted to improve and be in the beat place possible for next season.
“That is the motivation that carries us over the next games, and also the past two or three games.”
Leicester broke through after 16 minutes when Bilal El Khannouss’ low cross was thumped high into the net by Vardy.
Referee David Webb had gone off with a head injury by the time Jordan Ayew doubled the Foxes’ lead in the 44th minute with a crisp low drive.
Southampton interim boss Simon Rusk said: “The first goal just seemed to knock the confidence out of the team.
“Maybe that’s a result of the season as a whole in that it seemed to be a step too far psychologically perhaps.
“That’s how it appeared for everyone on the pitch in that moment, and the first-half performance just ran away from us in the end.
“We can try and affect confidence levels as much as we can, but the reality is we’re working together as a group that’s won two games all season.
“We are away from home in the Premier League against a team with seven more points than us and I expected a difficult game.
“As can happen in the Premier League, and with where we’re at, at the moment, and this season as a whole, it went against us and we struggled to maintain performance from there.”
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