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| Jamie Vardy scored his first hat-trick since his three goals for Fleetwood against Ebbsfleet on 21 February 2012 |
Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick as Leicester City pulled off a stunning victory over an out-of-sorts Manchester City.
The Foxes were 2-0 up in five minutes as Vardy ended his 10-game run without a Premier League goal by slotting home, and Andy King curled in moments later.
It was 3-0 within 20 minutes as Vardy added another after skipping past visiting keeper Claudio Bravo, and he completed his hat-trick by intercepting a misplaced John Stones pass and finishing from a narrow angle.
Aleksandar Kolarov, with a free-kick, and Nolito scored late consolation goals for the away side.
They have now lost back-to-back league games for the first time since Pep Guardiola took over in the summer, and are four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
For defending champions Leicester, victory ended a five-game run without a league win and moved them up to 14th.
MATCH HIGHLIGHT
Man City pay for chaotic defending
Guardiola said this week he wanted a new rule to allow teams to use up to six substitutes - and after five minutes he may have hoped his wish was a reality.
Manchester City have kept just two Premier League clean sheets this season, and Guardiola reshuffled his formation to start with a back three of Pablo Zabaleta, John Stones and Bacary Sagna.
That strategy was swiftly scrapped, though, when his side fell 2-0 down after just 255 seconds - Kolarov was hauled out of midfield and into a hastily created back four.
The visitors, looking marginally better for the change, still managed to get caught on the break for Leicester's third and frequently put themselves under pressure by trying to play out from the back - Stones' misplaced backpass for Vardy's third the costliest example.
Their fragility could well be a result of their lack of a consistent starting XI, with Guardiola never having kept the same line-up for two consecutive games during his time at Etihad Stadium.
Suspensions for Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi had forced the Spaniard to make changes here, and his side were devoid of cohesion.
For all their possession, they did not have their first shot on target until Kolarov scored a well-placed free-kick in the 82nd minute, and only salvaged further respectability when Nolito tapped in the Serb's low cross late on.
Man of the match - Jamie Vardy
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| A first hat-trick for Leicester in a performance reminiscent of his best displays last season - the confidence poured back into him after his first goal |
What They Said
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri told BBC Sport: "It was the true Leicester, maybe because we have played so badly in our last few matches, but today we were so strong.
"We played smart, slowed down the tempo.
"I am very pleased for Jamie. When he finished, I said 'welcome back'."
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola told BBC Sport: "Leicester won the second balls and scored fantastic goals.
"Football is a game with mistakes, especially today. I would never complain to my players and I will look inside myself and analyse the reason why we have problems with the second balls when they arrive.
"Our game is not bad, but in the box we have a lot of problems."
What's next?
On Monday, both sides find out who they will face in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Manchester City will be drawn against one of Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Monaco or Napoli.
Leicester City will meet Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid or Sevilla.
On Tuesday, Leicester travel to Bournemouth (19:45 GMT). Manchester City host Watford the following day (20:00).
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