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Soccer

Six games that helped Leicester City become Premier League champions

Leicester City's Premier League triumph was not a story of a team sneaking in at the last moment ...



Six games that helped Leiceste...
Soccer

Six games that helped Leicester City become Premier League champions

Leicester City's Premier League triumph was not a story of a team sneaking in at the last moment to steal a title.

Claudio Ranieri's side were in the top half of the table throughout the season, and only fell as low as eighth place for a short period in September.

Since January 23rd, Leicester have been continuously at the top of the table, and will remain there until the end of the season. Some of the wins are more memorable than others, but each of the 77 points that it took to win the League were equally as vital as the others.

Here are six of Leicester's most important results from the season that helped them win the title.

Leicester City 3-2 Aston Villa (13/9/2015)

With what has happened in the following months, a 3-2 win against the Premier League's bottom side may not seem like a crucial win, but that's exactly what it was. Ranieri's side started the season unbeaten with two wins and two draws but looked set to have their momentum halted after the international break.

With less than 20 minutes to go, Leicester trailed 2-0 to Villa after conceding goals to Jack Grealish (remember him?) and Carles Gil. Ritchie de Laet, Jamie Vardy and Nathan Dyer all scored in the final 18 minutes to keep Leicester's momentum going.

Leicester City's Nathan Dyer (centre) collides with Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan (left) as he scores his side's third goal of the game. Picture by: Nick Potts / PA Archive/Press Association Images

Leicester City 2-1 Chelsea (14/12/2015)

Come December, Leicester's joke was starting to get old as they remained in the top four. A win over Chelsea would see the team return to the top of the league after seeing Arsenal and Manchester City overtake them in previous days.

Claudio Ranieri got one over on Jose Mourinho as goals from Vardy and Riyad Mahrez helped the team to a 2-1 win. Three days later, Mourinho left the Premier League champions by mutual consent.

Tottenham 0-1 Leicester City (13/1/2016)

Leicester failed to win their three previous league games over the Christmas and New Year period when they travelled to North London to take on Tottenham. Both teams were in the top-four, with Ranieri's side lying in second place, two points behind Arsenal.

A Robert Huth goal in the final ten minutes sent Leicester to joint-top as Arsenal drew the same evening. Nobody could shake The Foxes away.

Leicester City 2-0 Liverpool (2/2/2016)

The game at home to Liverpool was the start of a three-game run that was supposed to put paid to Leicester's title bid. With a resurgent Liverpool visiting the King Power, it was the only home game of their tricky spell of fixtures.

A draw would have been seen as a decent result for them, having gone into the game three points ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal. A 2-0 win surprised many, and was best remembered for Vardy's goal of the season contender.

Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (left) scores his side's first goal against Liverpool. Picture by: Nick Potts / PA Wire/Press Association Images

Manchester City 1-3 Leicester City (6/2/2016)

The early-afternoon kick-off was the point at which many started to believe that Leicester could actually go on and win the league. Three points ahead of City, Leicester dominated the game from start to finish, taking the lead after three minutes.

A Robert Huth brace either side of half-time, and a Mahrez goal gave Leicester a 3-0 lead before Sergio Aguero scored a late consolation, as the Foxes were left leading the pack with a five-point advantage.

Leicester City 2-2 West Ham United (17/4/2016)

The recent draw with West Ham kept the momentum in Leicester's favour after Tottenham's relentless assault towards the top of the table. After losing Jamie Vardy early in the second half to a red card, Ranieri's side came from 2-1 down to equalise with a Leonardo Ulloa penalty in added time.

Although Spurs would gain two points the following evening, the Ulloa penalty made the draw feel like a win for the team that would go on to claim the league title just two weeks later.

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