Leicester maintained their fine form in the Premier League after securing a 2-1 victory against Aston Villa on Super Sunday
Brendan Rodgers' side raced into a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from James Maddison (19) and Harvey Barnes (23), further enhancing their England claims in front of Gareth Southgate
Southgate would have been disappointed not to have been able to cast an eye over Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish, who was missing through injury
Villa struggled in the first half without their talisman, but they were given a route back into the game immediately after the interval through Bertrand Traore's close-range finish in the 48th minute
It set up a big finish to the game, but Leicester, who briefly moved above Manchester United, held on for victory at Villa Park
Defeat leaves Aston Villa, who do not expect Grealish to be sidelined for long, in eighth
Leicester were quickly out of the traps and they were first to nearly every ball as Aston Villa, without Grealish, struggled to get a foothold in the game
Despite the visitors being on top, it was Villa who created the first real opening of the game as Anwar El Ghazi's cross picked out Traore on the edge of the six-yard box, but the forward's shot was brilliantly blocked by full-back Luke Thomas
The 19-year-old's intervention proved critical as Leicester went straight up the other end to break the deadlock
 Maddison was afforded far too much time on the edge of the penalty area and he bent the ball beyond the dive of Emiliano Martinez and into the bottom corner
It was two four minutes later as Martinez spilled Jamie Vardy's shot and Barnes was quickest to react, firing the ball into the roof of the net to give the visitors a commanding advantage at the break
Villa lacked any sort of spark in the first half, but whatever Smith said to his side at the break worked a treat as Matt Targett's cross found its way to Traore, who fired home from close range three minutes into the second half
However, Leicester held firm and Maddison tested Martinez with a free-kick before being forced off with an ankle problem and replaced by Nampalys Mendy after 64 minutes
Vardy dragged wide as the game ambled to a conclusion and Villa tried to find the momentum to earn a point
Trezeguet's weak effort rolled to Kasper Schmeichel as Leicester's resolve held firm through five minutes of stoppage time to continue their top-four charge
"The impressive thing about this Brendan Rodgers side is the ability to deal with injuries
 It shows their squad depth
"They also bring in youngsters and the manager shows faith in those players
"The tempo they started at showed they were not messing around
 It caught Aston Villa off guard, and they were relentless
 It was wave after wave of attack in the first half
"Aston Villa boss : "It was a game of two halves
 They started well, were aggressive and we played in front of them
 We had to stretch the game and we did that in the second half
"We never went anywhere with the ball in the first half, didn't put any balls in behind
 In the second half we played in their half which is what we had to do
 They were hanging on at the end to get the win
"You are always going to miss a top-class player, take Jack Grealish out of any team and you'd miss him but the XI that was out there was good enough to win
"We created chances, got in good areas, we have players who can score goals
"Leicester boss : "I was absolutely delighted
 I thought some of our football and the speed of our game was really really good
 We didn't have too many concerns defensively
"We gave away a cheap goal, and when you do that in the second half it gives the opponents a bit of momentum for the next 15-20 minutes
 Once we weathered that I thought we still had chances in the second half
"After midweek travel and a European game, the players really have to show their spirit and quality
 I was so pleased and very proud of the team
 Our energy was good, and the quality of our football was excellent
 Some of our attacking play was very good
""We were able to go in and reflect on last season and go through it in pre-season
 There's a greater calmness
 We're playing some great football, but at times you have to dig in and have spirit, and we were able to do that
"': "I have been so impressed with Harvey Barnes all season
 He has so much power and pace
 He must be a nightmare to play against
 He's a player who is so high on confidence with a manager who really believes in him
"You could see before half-time that Brendan was telling him, 'every time you get the ball, I want you to run with it'
 It helped that he was up against a right-back in Ahmed Elmohamady that hasn't played a lot of football but he's been doing it all season
"He's got tremendous quality and I'm really enjoying him at the moment
 He might not get into the Euros as he's got a long list ahead of him in Rashford, Grealish, Sancho, Sterling, Saka to name but a few
"': "Harvey Barnes has really showcased his talents in this game
 His strength, his speed and he scored as well
 He's adding more goals to his game and that's absolutely vital for his development
 Surely Gareth Southgate, watching on, has to have been impressed with his performance
"Aston Villa travel to Leeds next Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off 5
30pm
Meanwhile, Leicester are back in Europa League action on Thursday when they face Slavia Prague in the second leg of their last-32 clash before facing Arsenal next Sunday; kick-off 12pm
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