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Leicester surge to EPL summit

Swansea - Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez was left to reflect on a "perfect day" after his hat-trick at Swansea City propelled Claudio Ranieri's side top of the Premier League.

The Algeria international netted all three goals in a 3-0 success at the Liberty Stadium to take his tally for the campaign to 10, four behind Leicester team-mate and man of the moment Jamie Vardy.

With former leaders Manchester City losing 2-0 at Stoke City and Manchester United drawing 0-0 with West Ham United, victory took Leicester two points clear at the top of the table.

"The perfect day," Mahrez told Sky Sports. "We won, we're top and I scored a hat-trick. My first ever hat-trick in my little career. I'm really happy for the team."

Mahrez, 24, became the first Leicester player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League since Stan Collymore against Sunderland in 2000.

He was shown posing with the match ball in a picture published on Leicester's official Twitter feed.

Vardy failed to equal Jimmy Dunne's 83-year-old English top-flight record of scoring in 12 successive games, but had already set a new Premier League mark by netting in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

"Vardy didn't score, but he played for the team and the team is the leader," said Ranieri, whose side host under-performing champions Chelsea in their next game a week on Monday.

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