Leicester City equalled the 24-year-old record for the biggest ever Premier League victory as 10-man Southampton were dismantled at a rainswept St Mary’s.
The victory sees Brendan Rodgers’ side climb into second place, leapfrogging Manchester City and moving five points behind leaders Liverpool.
The result, which matches Manchester United’s 9-0 win against Ipswich in 1995, was only confirmed in stoppage time thanks to Jamie Vardy’s penalty.
Both Vardy and Ayoze Perez scored hat-tricks, with the visitors aided by Ryan Bertrand’s red card for a reckless challenge on Perez in the build-up to Ben Chilwell’s opener.
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That opened the floodgates for Leicester, who turned on the style just two days before the first anniversary of the helicopter crash that killed the club’s former chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people.
Youri Tielemans also scored his third goal of the campaign and James Maddison added a superb free-kick on a miserable evening for Southampton, who drop into the bottom three.
Leicester may have played a game more than Liverpool but this emphatic result means that they have now scored more goals than the league leaders and are just four behind Manchester City.
And the omens look good for Rodgers’ side who have now collected one point more from the opening 10 games of the current season than at the same stage of their title-winning campaign in 2015-16.
With trips to Crystal Palace and Brighton on the horizon either side of hosting Arsenal, Leicester have every chance to kick on from their strong start, but given the strength and form of Liverpool and Manchester City, a title challenge appears unlikely.
Rodgers delighted with ‘ruthlessly simple’ Leicester
But the manner in which the Foxes ruthlessly cut through the hosts will nevertheless serve as a warning to others, with their three goals inside the opening 19 minutes the fastest they have amassed that scoreline in a Premier League match since 1998.
Also working in Leicester’s favour is the attacking menace still being provided by Vardy.
While the forward is approaching his 33rd birthday, there are few signs, if any, that his physical capabilities are waning and he looked as sprightly as ever as he recorded his first hat-trick for almost three years.
His first showed nimbleness and awareness as he cut inside Saints defender Maya Yoshida to drill a close-range effort into the bottom corner, while his second showcased smart movement as he headed past Angus Gunn from close range. His trademark blistering pace then took him clear of the Southampton defence to win and convert a late penalty.
His exploits were also complemented by Perez, who opened his account for the season after finding the bottom-right corner following a neat one-two with Tielemans.
The Spaniard then superbly swept home Chilwell’s pinpoint cross for his second before finding the bottom corner with a left-footed shot to complete his treble.
