LONDON: Jamie Vardy sent a screaming reminder on Tuesday that leaders Leicester City are in the Premier league title race for the long haul with a sensational strike in a 2-0 win over Liverpool on a night Manchester United rediscovered their scoring touch at Old Trafford.

After an hour of deadlock at the King Power Stadium, Vardy took matters into his own hands, latching on to a long ball pumped down the right, looking up and launching an unstoppable 25-metre rocket over stranded goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

The England striker then showed his poacher’s instinct in scoring his side’s second 11 minutes later from Shinji Okazaki’s deflected shot, his 18th this campaign, to keep Leicester three points clear of Manchester City, who made a meal of beating relegation-threatened Sunderland 1-0.

Sergio Aguero scored his 12th goal in his last 10 league matches to earn City the points a day after it was confirmed manager Manuel Pellegrini would be replaced by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at the end of the season.

With 14 games of an enthralling season left, Leicester have 50 points with City on 47 ahead of their top-of-the-table blockbuster at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have 45.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane also struck twice, after Dele Alli’s early opener, as Spurs crushed Norwich City 3-0 away to leapfrog Arsenal into third spot, fuelling the club’s belief that a first title since 1961 is within reach.

Arsenal are stalling after a 0-0 home draw with Southampton left them without a league win in four games and without a goal in their last three, the first time since 2009.

Life is looking a little brighter for United manager Louis van Gaal after his side blew off the cobwebs in a 3-0 win over Stoke City to remain in fifth place with 40 points.

They had not scored in the first half of their last 11 home matches, piling pressure on the Dutchman, but they turned on the style against Stoke with Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial on target before halftime and Wayne Rooney — with his seventh goal in his last seven games — completing the win after the break.

Criticised for much of the season for their risk-averse attacking approach, United have scored six goals in their last two games.

“A result like that settles the nerves of the fans, the players, even the manager,” Lingard said. “Hopefully now we can go on a run.”

West Ham United remain a point behind United in sixth place after a 2-0 win at home to bottom club Aston Villa, who had Jordan Ayew sent off in the 17th minute for a blatant elbow on Aaron Cresswell.

Michail Antonio headed West Ham in front in the 58th minute, with Cheikhou Kouyate adding a late goal on the break.

‘UNBELIEVABLE GOAL’

As so often this season though, Vardy stole the limelight and left his manager Claudio Ranieri purring.

“Amazing. The first goal was unbelievable,” the Italian said. “Jamie is very fast and can create a lot, but it was unbelievable how [Riyad] Mahrez found him and how he had the time to see the keeper out of the goal and score a fantastic goal.

“The team is in good condition. Now it is important to recover the energy because we have to run a lot against Manchester City.”

Reports had emerged earlier in the day that Vardy is due to sign a new contract and the 29-year-old England striker delivered a perfectly timed reminder of his talent.

While Ranieri heaped praise on his players, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was left fuming after his side slipped 16 points behind them in eighth place.

“I’m not too fine with our game today,” a downbeat Klopp said. “Today would have been a good day to show we are ready for this. I need a few more seconds to calm down.”

Man City were under the cosh for long periods at Sunderland but hung on for Pellegrini’s 65th win in 100 Premier League matches in charge — a record bettered only by former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (73).

Aguero looks back to his sharpest, his 16th-minute strike at the Stadium of Light keeping Pellegrini’s hopes of signing off with a league title on track and the Chilean praised his side’s resolve.

“It is not our style to play with nine defenders but it was our third game in a week and it was impossible to have a high pace with all our injuries,” he said.

Arsenal’s title hopes, though, took a blow in a goalless draw with Southampton.

Asked if this was a case of Arsenal blowing another promising position in the league, Wenger told a TV reporter: “Look, I don’t know why you say ‘same old Arsenal’.

“For 20 years we have been at the top of the Premier League. At the moment we have to say that we have dropped points, but we have to keep fighting and believing.”

Exacerbating Arsenal fans’ disappointment was the sight of arch-rivals Tottenham stealing above them into third place on goal difference.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men won at Carrow Road courtesy of a second-minute Alli goal and a Kane double — a 30th-minute penalty, won by Alli, and a calm one-on-one finish late on.

Bournemouth gained three vital points with a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace, moving them seven points above the bottom three, while Swansea City are five points clear of the drop zone after drawing 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2016