Machibet BetSouthampton 0 Leicester 9: Fizzing Foxes go second as Perez and Vardy hit hat-tricks to set biggest away win EVER – The Sun | The Sun - Machibet777 Affiliate

HOW Khun Vichai would have loved to see this.

Two days before the anniversary of the death of their chairman and idol, Leicester racked up the equal-biggest win in Premier League history.

Jamie Vardy completed his treble with a stoppage-time penalty that gave Leicester the biggest away win in Prem history — Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick as Leicester destroyed Southampton in a record 9-0 winCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Spaniard Ayoze Perez notched his first Foxes' hat-trick amid a record winCredit: AFP or licensors

Southampton star Ryan Bertrand took just 12 minutes to become the first player ever to be sent off after VARCredit: Getty - Contributor

Nine-nil. NINE. Just read that one more time.

Ayoze Perez led the way with a hat-trick while Jamie Vardy also grabbed a treble.

Ben Chilwell and Youri Tielemans also netted, while James Maddison’s grabbed the eighth with a stunning free-kick.

It surpassed Manchester United’s 8-1 drubbing of Nottingham Forest in 1999.

And it underlined not only Leicester’s credentials as genuine top-four contenders, but possibly something even more ambitious as they went above Manchester City in the league table.

The last time the Foxes were second was when they completed the impossible by winning the league title.

And as good as Liverpool and City have been this year, they will have noted this brutal win over Southampton - who had Ryan Bertrand sent off on 12 minutes - with keen interest.

MOST ONE-SIDED GAME

The title-winning side of 2016 was all made possible by the vision and financial backing of late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, tragically killed in a helicopter crash outside the King Power stadium on October 27 last year.

Saints paid tribute by dedicating the front cover of the match programme to the Thai businessman, and put up his image on the big screen 20 minutes before kick-off.

Leicester arranged for white scarves bearing Khun Vichai’s name on one side and the phrase ‘Making the impossible possible’ on the other to be placed on the seats of every away supporter.

How proud Khun Vichai would be of this team if he were alive to see them now.

As the rain swirled round St Mary’s, Leicester put in one of the most one-sided away displays in Premier League history.

Jamie Vardy rounds off the scoring with a history-making penalty on 94 minutesCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Jamie Vardy rises to nod home as Leicester dumped Southampton third bottomCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Ayoze Perez finishes clinically as Southampton got the goals to match their relentless attacksCredit: Getty Images - Getty

It began in the tenth minute as Chilwell followed up his own cross to Harvey Barnes and turned in the rebound after his left wing partner-in-crime had seen a shot saved.

But the real game-changing moment came before… and after.

Perez had been fouled in the build-up by a nasty lunge from Bertrand, which VAR deemed to be a red-card offence two minutes after the goal had been scored.

Off the left-back walked with just 12 minutes on the clock. Game over already.

But given how lethal Leicester when Newcastle went down to ten men last month, going on to win 5-0 that day, the worry around St Mary’s was that a similar embarrassment was brewing.

FANS TAUNT HASSENHUTTL

What did come to pass was far more humiliating.

One became two on 17 minutes as Tielemans controlled the ball in the area and buried past the helpless Gunn.

Perez has endured a tough time in front of goal since arriving from Newcastle for £30million in the summer.

But he finally broke his duck as he exchanged passes with Tielemans and beat Gunn at his near post with an effort the keeper should have kept out.

The away supporters taunted Hasenhuttl with chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ on the half hour.

And given this was the third home Premier League game in a row where his side were two or more goals down, the Austrian will have been feeling hot under the collar down in the soaking dugout.

Southampton's Yan Valery cannot believe it on a night of horrors for the home sideCredit: Reuters

England ace Jamie Vardy drills the fifth Leicester goal and his second — England ace Jamie Vardy drills the first of his three goals to make it 5-0 on the stroke of half-timeCredit: AFP or licensors

Youri Tielemans really sparked the goal surge when he made it 2-0 after 17 minutesCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Sadly for him, there was more misery to come as the Rodgers’ train kept on coming.

Perez grabbed his second on 39 minutes, blasting in Chilwell’s cross high into the net at the far post.

Vardy got in on the act as he turned Maya Yoshida with ease before blasting into the net.

It meant Leicester became just the second side in Prem history to score five goals before half-time after Manchester City did it in their 6-1 battering of Burnley on April 3, 2010.

Perez completed his treble on 56 minutes, taking down Barnes’ ball and firing past Gunn. His only hat-trick in five years at Newcastle also came against Saints, in a strange twist of fate.

SHELL-SHOCKED

Vardy went joint top of the Prem goal-scoring charts with his eighth of the season with a header soon after, as Saints continued to raise the white flag.

Maddison made it eight with a stunning free-kick before Vardy sealed his own treble from the penalty spot after being felled by Jan Bednarek.

Many home fans had already left well before half-time as a shell-shocked Hasenhuttl was left to deal with his side’s battered confidence, not to mention goal-difference.