Jamie Vardy scored after just 21 seconds as Leicester City returned to the top of the EFL Championship table with a convincing 4-1 victory at Southampton.
Vardy quieted the St. Mary's crowd almost instantly as he side-footed past Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu following an exchange of passes with Stephy Mavididi.
Kasey McAteer converted Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's through ball to double the Foxes' advantage after 18 minutes and although a defensive error allowed Sam Edozie to halve the deficit, Wilfried Ndidi restored Leicester's two-goal advantage.
Mavididi, one of Leicester's standout players, scored a superb solo goal from deep inside his own half.
The Saints' night to forget was complete as Kamaldeen Sulemana was shown a straight red card for a clumsy challenge on James Justin.
Victory temporarily puts the Foxes top of the table, two points ahead of Preston North End, who play Saturday while Southampton slip to seventh and out of the playoff places.
Story of the match
Before kickoff, there was a moment of silence to remember the victims of the natural disasters that have occurred in Libya and Morocco.
Once the action got underway, Vardy, restored to the starting lineup and given the captain's armband, got on the end of Mavididi's cross to score from ten yards out.
Moments later, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, making his debut for Southampton, played a pass straight into the path of Dewsbury-Hall, but he took too long to pick out a shot.
Justin got in front of an Adam Armstrong strike and Mads Hermansen saved Che Adams' long-range effort in a good spell of pressure for the Saints.
With Hermansen off his line, Will Smallbone dispossessed Harry Winks inside the Foxes' area but the Dane recovered to smother Adams' shot on the spin.
Soon after, the lead was doubled. Dewsbury-Hall nicked the ball off of Kyle Walker-Peters and his sublime pass allowed McAteer to take a touch with one foot and score with the other.
The visitors had a lapse in defense as Callum Doyle misjudged a loose ball and Adams controlled it, sliding it to Edozie, who made no mistake with his chip.
On the half-hour mark, a well-worked move from a free kick saw Ndidi test Bazunu with a daisy-cutter but the Saints shot-stopper stuck out an arm to deny him.
Bazunu then stopped Vardy and was untroubled by a rolling shot from Mavididi.
After Hermansen saved from Harwood-Bellis' header, Dewsbury-Hall set up the lively Mavididi, who saw Bazunu stick out a leg to keep the hosts in touching distance.
The same duo hooked up by Mavididi failed to make sufficient contact on Dewsbury-Hall's through ball and McAteer recycled the ball in the Southampton box.
In stoppage time, Mavididi unselfishly passed for Ndidi, who found some space and he sounds before scoring into the bottom corner.
The hosts had some good opportunities 15 minutes into the second half, Adams shooting too close to Hermansen and Armstrong missed a golden opportunity at the near post.
Dewsbury-Hall and Mavididi combined again, the latter clipping a through ball wide.
With 23 minutes to play, Sulemana gave away a breakaway to Mavididi, who cushioned the ball past Smallbone and beat Bazunu into the bottom corner to make it 4-1.
In added time, Iheanacho should have made it five after he received a pass from Abdul Fatawu, but the Nigerian couldn't keep it down.
In extra time, Sulemana was given his marching orders after a late challenge on Justin, completing a miserable night for the hosts.
Man of the match: Stephy Mavididi
Set up Vardy's quickfire opener and a brilliant bit of trickery helped him assist on Ndidi's goal. Grabbed a goal for himself, the least e deserved for such a brilliant performance.
