A merciless Liverpool plunged a pitiful Leicester City deeper into relegation danger with a straightforward 3-0 win at the King Power Stadium in Monday's Premier League affair.
Curtis Jones's first-half brace preceded a stunning Trent Alexander-Arnold strike as Jurgen Klopp's side marched to their seventh successive triumph, while boos rang out from the home crowd at full time in the wake of another dire defensive display - one which could very well accelerate their demotion to the Championship.
Still haunted by last week's mauling at the hands of Fulham, Leicester sought to right the wrongs of the Bank Holiday weekend with an explosive start at the King Power.
Alisson Becker was called into action with just 13 minutes gone, as a bright James Maddison carved the Reds defence open with one sublime pass to Harvey Barnes, who in turn fed Jamie Vardy, but the angle was tight and Alisson thwarted him.
Dean Smith's side failed to make their early dominance count, though, and as Liverpool began to grow into the game during the second half of the first half, Klopp's side made Leicester pay and then some.
© Reuters
In the 33rd minute, a route-one pass from Alisson to Luis Diaz exposed the Foxes' high line, and the ball worked its way to Mohamed Salah over on the right-hand side for the Egyptian to send an inswinging ball to the back post, where Jones charged in to delicately sidefoot home.
Jones's opener marked a 21st game in a row without a clean sheet for Leicester, and the Liverpool native took just three minutes to double his tally and the visitors' lead, letting fly with a wonderful half-volley on the turn and managing to pick out the far corner.
There was a hint of offside when Jones received the ball from Salah, but thanks to Jonny Evans's outstretched heel, Liverpool had their second goal, and it was oh-so nearly three for Klopp's fired-up charges straight from kickoff.
Stealing the ball back on the halfway line, Liverpool bombarded a Leicester defence that was totally at sea, but the move ended with Cody Gakpo firing a first-time strike straight into the body of Daniel Iversen.
Barnes took it upon himself to try to claw Leicester back into the game seven minutes into the second half, creating a yard of space on the edge of the box and attempting to pick out the top corner, but Alisson was equal to his curler and tipped his shot wide at full stretch.
© Reuters
Barring that half-chance, Smith's men were completely lacking in inspiration against a comfortable Liverpool side, who well and truly killed the game off in spectacular style in the 71st minute.
Awarded a free kick some 25 yards from goal after Evans lunged into Jordan Henderson, Salah and Alexander-Arnold stood over the ball. The former lined up to shoot but rolled the ball back for his teammate, who picked out the top corner with an incredible curling strike, handing Salah his third assist of a near-perfect evening for those in red.
While some Foxes fans were left star-struck by Alexander-Arnold's wonder goal, others made their way to the exits seconds after the ball hit the back of the net, and the ones that stayed witnessed a collector's item in the 79th minute - Salah inexplicably shooting wide when one-on-one with Iversen.
A 22nd top-flight loss of the season leaves Leicester languishing in 19th place in the table, two points adrift of safety with two games remaining, while Liverpool remain fifth, just one point behind Manchester United and Newcastle United having played a game more.
The Foxes' penultimate Premier League game of the season takes them to St James' Park for a date with Newcastle next Monday, while Liverpool host Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
Ben Knapton
