Sunderland 2-1 Leicester City

Leicester have gone nine away games without a league win since beating Sunderland in April

Sunderland moved off the bottom of the table by beating reigning Premier League champions Leicester - their third win in four matches.

The Black Cats took the lead when Robert Huth turned a corner into his own net midway through the second half.

And before Leicester could mount a response, David Moyes' side added a second when Jermain Defoe drove in after Duncan Watmore's shot was blocked.

Substitute Shinji Okazaki flicked Demarai Gray's cross in at the near post to set up a tense finish, but Sunderland held on.

The result moves them up to 18th and within two points of the Foxes, who are yet to win away in the league this season.

Leicester are in real danger of becoming involved in a relegation battle and their return of 13 points is the worst record after 14 games of any defending champions in Premier League history.

• Relive Sunderland's win over Leicester

• Everything wrong at Leicester - Ranieri

False dawn or a genuine revival?

Two wins from their three games prior to the visit of Leicester had given Sunderland fans some hope that their side have turned the corner under Moyes.

They lost in their previous outing - a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool after which Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said the Black Cats were the most defensive team he had ever seen.

Sunderland had 22 shots in the match - they have not recorded more in a single league game since hitting 24 shots against Everton in April 2014.

However, they looked nothing of the sort against Leicester, attacking with pace and intent. Victor Anichebe - reborn under Moyes - has forged an impressive partnership with Defoe and the continuation of that will be crucial to Sunderland's hopes of climbing out of the relegation zone.

And the club's players also appear to have developed a strong team spirit, something that was exemplified in the final few seconds of the game as they threw themselves in front of the ball in a tense scramble before Jordan Pickford superbly punched away Wes Morgan's goal-bound shot.

Pause button pressed on Vardy fairytale

Jamie Vardy has just three league goals and one assist this season

This time last year, Vardy was being congratulated on social media by Ruud van Nistelrooy for breaking the Dutchman's record of scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League games.

Fast forward to today and the striker's form has dipped dramatically - his blank against Sunderland was his 16th game for Leicester without scoring.

Vardy got into good positions against the Black Cats. He was unlucky with a clever cushioned header that landed on the roof of the net and also nodded just wide from dangerous Marc Albrighton cross. However, the England international is not getting the service he enjoyed in an electric 2015-16 campaign.

During Leicester's title-winning season he linked up superbly with Riyad Mahrez, but the pair have rarely been on the same wavelength this season. Mahrez has found Vardy with just three passes in their past nine games and only once did the two combine against Sunderland.

There were suggestions that Ranieri was considering dropping Vardy for the Sunderland game and another match without scoring may increase the threat to his place in the side.

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Man of the match - Victor Anichebe

Victor Anichebe was at his bustling best against Leicester, causing problems in attack and also helping out in defence when the Foxes had a decent spell during the middle period of the game

What they said

Sunderland boss David Moyes: "If we can win another three out of four we will be in a really good position. We are playing better and the team is getting better.

"We're much more of an attacking looking side now. We have got more options to attack and we have actually started to defend better."

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: "We did our best today, but it wasn't enough. We have to keep working hard in training and trust the bad moment will turn.

"From the own goal you can see the luck is not with us - but we have to stay compact, stay together and react strongly."

Illustrious company for Defoe

• Sunderland claimed a Premier League victory against Leicester City for the first time since April 2002, also a 2-1 home win.

• The Black Cats had 22 shots in the match - they have not recorded more in a single league game since hitting 24 shots against in April 2014 versus Everton.

• The Foxes have lost six of their past seven Premier League away games, conceding 18 goals and never scoring more than once in a game during this run.

• Defoe has scored five goals in his past five appearances at the Stadium of Light, including a goal in each of his past three games there.

• The striker has scored 24 Premier League goals in December, only Alan Shearer (39), Robbie Fowler (33) and Wayne Rooney (31) have more.

What next?

It is a big game at the bottom of the table for Sunderland as they head to Swansea on 10 December (15:00 GMT kick-off).

Leicester, meanwhile, travel to Portugal to play Porto in their final Champions League group game on Wednesday (19:45). The Foxes are already through the knockout stage, so their focus is more likely to be on next Saturday's home game against Manchester City (17:30).