Leicester rise to the top

Football EPL : Vardy scores in 10th straight game to equal Nistelrooy's record

 Jamie Vardy equalled the Premier League record by scoring for a 10th successive match as his Leicester City side went top after winning 3-0 at Newcastle United while champions Chelsea ended their slump with a 1-0 win over Norwich City on Saturday.

Leicester became the third team to top the table on Saturday after Manchester City started it in first place and Manchester United briefly led after they won 2-1 at Watford in the early kickoff. City will go back to the top if they beat Liverpool in the evening kickoff while Arsenal missed their chance to hit the summit when they lost 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion.

Frenchman Olivier Giroud put Arsenal ahead before West Brom struck back with a goal from James Morrison and an own goal from Mikel Arteta, while Santi Cazorla missed a late penalty for the visitors.

Leicester going top was the highlight of a memorable afternoon when 'La Marseillaise', the French national anthem, was played at grounds throughout England as a mark of solidarity with France following last week's Paris attacks.

Chelsea's French defender Kurt Zouma led a rendition of the anthem at Stamford Bridge where a huge French flag was also displayed before the champions ended a run of three successive league defeats with victory over Norwich thanks to a second-half goal from Diego Costa.

While Vardy equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy's 12-year-old record for scoring in consecutive Premier League games, Leonardo Ulloa and Shinji Okazaki also scored for Leicester.

Van Nistelrooy had set the record in the last eight matches of the 2002-03 season and the first two games of 2003-04.

The top-flight record was set by Stan Mortensen, who scored in 11 successive matches for Blackpool in Division One in 1950-51 and Vardy will equal that if he scores against Manchester United next week.

Claudio Ranieri's side stayed above United, who won 2-1 at Watford and were briefly top after a dramatic finale at Vicarage Road.

United led 1-0 following an 11th-minute volley from Memphis Depay before Troy Deeney equalised with an 87th-minute penalty but then scored an own goal in stoppage time to give United victory.

United, who are suffering an injury crisis, conceded their first goal in six matches in all competitions.

Depay broke the deadlock when he connected perfectly with an Ander Herrera cross from the right and volleyed past Heurelho Gomes with his left foot.

Everton were the highest scorers of the day, crushing bottom-placed Aston Villa 4-0 with Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku both scoring twice to leave Villa with only five points from 13 games.

Swansea City and Bournemouth shared four goals in a 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium. Bournemouth led 2-0 but have now gone seven league matches without a win and are 18th.