05/12/2015 15:00 v Leicester City

A hat-trick from Riyad Mahrez saw Leicester City claim all three points following a ruthless display at the Liberty Stadium.

In a one-sided first half, the visitors went ahead early as Marc Albrighton’s corner was knocked in by Mahrez, while the winger grabbed a second with a fine curling finish.

It could have been worse for the home side but Lukasz Fabianski made two fine stops to deny Jamie Vardy and Mahrez in a frustrating opening period for the hosts.

The Swans did improve after the break as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ki Sung-Yueng both hit the woodwork, but Leicester added a third as Mahrez finished off another flowing counter attack to take the Foxes back to the top of the Barclays Premier League table.

The visitors came into this fixture on the back of just one defeat in their opening 14 matches, and they got off to a perfect start after just five minutes.

After a corner was given away by Kyle Bartley, Albrighton’s delivery from the left came off the back of Mahrez and the ball crept in at the near post despite the best efforts of Fabianski.

It nearly got worse for the home side ten minutes later as a mistake from Bartley allowed Vardy to surge clear of the Swans defence but the Premier League’s top scorer was denied by a fine save from Fabianski.

However, it wasn’t long before Leicester did double their lead as a second goal arrived on 22 minutes.

After a speedy counter-attack from the visitors involving Vardy and N’Golo Kante, the latter clipped a fine ball over the top of the defence for Mahrez who controlled well and coolly slotted into the far corner.

And Fabianski did well to prevent the Foxes from extending their lead further only three minutes later Mahrez was picked out again inside the box but his left-foot shot was saved by the legs of the Swans goalkeeper.

Leicester continued to exert their dominance and should have scored again five minutes before the break as Mahrez released Leonardo Ulloa in acres of space but the Argentinian striker could only curl his effort wide of the left-hand post.

The Swans made a change at the interval as Wayne Routledge was replaced by Jefferson Montero, and the home side almost halved the deficit inside two minutes as Sigurdsson’s free kick was headed against the bar by Ki.

Sigurdsson was involved again on 53 minutes as a neat one-two with Montero saw the midfielder find a yard of space inside the box but his left-foot strike was too high as it evaded the crossbar.

Garry Monk made his second change of the afternoon on 63 minutes as Leon Britton made way for winger Modou Barrow, with the home side in desperate need of a way back into the contest.

But it was Leicester who scored a third five minutes later to effectively seal victory at the Liberty.

After a Swansea attack broke down midway inside the visitors’ half, a lightning break away led by Kante saw the midfielder surge 50 yards upfield before the ball made its way to Vardy who set up Mahrez to slot home and complete a sublime hat-trick.

Jack Cork was introduced as the Swans’ third and final sub in place of Ki, while Bafe Gomis saw a shot saved by Kasper Schmeichel and Sigurdsson’s 20-yard effort came back off the post as the home side pushed for a consolation.

Monk’s men tried in vain for a breakthrough, with Andre Ayew seeing a shot saved by Schmeichel at his near post, but it was to be Leicester's day at the Liberty as the victory took them to the summit of the Premier League.

SWANS: Lukasz Fabianski, Kyle Naughton, Kyle Bartley, Ashley Williams (capt), Neil Taylor, Leon Britton (Modou Barrow, 63), Ki Sung-Yueng (Jack Cork, 78), Gylfi Sigurdsson, Andre Ayew, Wayne Routledge (Jefferson Montero, ht), Bafe Gomis.

SUBS: Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Angel Rangel, Federico Fernandez, Marvin Emnes.

LEICESTER: Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Drinkwater, Wes Morgan (capt), Robert Huth, Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton, N'Golo Kante, Danny Simpson, Leonardo Ulloa (Andy King, 87), Riyad Mahrez (Jeff Schlupp, 90), Christian Fuchs.

SUBS: Mark Schwarzer, Shinji Okazaki, Marcin Wasilewski, Yohan Benalouane, Gokhan Inler.