Leicester City ended their season on a high by securing a comprehensive 5-1 win against Queens Park Rangers in their final Premier League clash of the campaign at the King Power Stadium this afternoon.
Jamie Vardy grabbed his fifth of the season in the first half before Marc Albrighton doubled the Foxes' tally on the stroke of half time.
Leonardo Ulloa and Esteban Cambiasso then added further goals after the break to all but kill off the contest before Charlie Austin headed in a consolation.
QPR wouldn't be able to conjure up a last-ditch revival, however, as substitute Andrej Kramaric struck a fifth to set off wild celebrations among the home fans.
Sports Mole analyses all the action in the East Midlands to see if the Foxes were worthy winners.
Match statistics
LEICESTER CITY
Shots: 22
On target: 7
Possession: 46%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 7
QUEENS PARK RANGERS
Shots: 18
On target: 2
Possession: 54%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 6
Was the result fair?
No doubt about it. Leicester played their beleaguered opponents off the park. The in-form hosts playing without pressure and surrounded by jubilant fans, combined with QPR's poor form, relegated status and desire to just get the season over and done with, meant that the odds were stacked against the visitors from the off, and it showed as Nigel Pearson's charges were able to strut their stuff on the pitch and sign the season off on a high note. Leicester were rampant, clinical and ruthless, while their opponents were deflated, groggy and second-rate.
Leicester's performance
The Foxes back line may as well have booked the afternoon off, given how little they had to do against the opposition forwards. Kasper Schmeichel was cool and confident when called upon, while the defence was also steady, although they would not have been pleased with conceding from a set piece in the second half.
As for the front line, they were confident, skilled and gave QPR a torrid afternoon. Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez were destructive down the flanks, while Cambiasso was a genuine midfield maestro. Vardy, Ulloa and Jeff Schlupp also performed admirably and clicked well with the rest of the machine.
QPR's performance
Poor. Very poor, in fact. To give them credit, they had a handful of good spells where they were threatening, they edged the possession percentage, and they breached their opponents' clean sheet, but on the whole they were unable to withstand a Foxes side for whom survival has invigorated them endlessly, playing in a stadium where the fans' mood was as jubilant as if they were celebrating a title win.
Deputy goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, standing in for the injured Robert Green, was guilty of a number of errors and looked vulnerable throughout the game, while the defence struggled to handle the opposition attackers, although Richard Dunne and Nedum Onuoha produced a number of vital clearances to keep the scoreline down.
It proved more of a mixed bag in terms of on-the-day quality up front, as Joey Barton delivered a few decent set pieces for his teammates and Austin bagged a well-taken goal, but there will be plenty of issues to address in the close season if the Hoops are to make an immediate return to the top flight.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Marc Albrighton: The former Aston Villa winger was constantly in the thick of the action and was responsible for some fantastic play down the right flank, delivering pinpoint crosses that caused havoc in the QPR back line and rendered Yoon Suk-Young a virtual spectator with a pitchside vantage point. His well-taken goal on the stroke of half-time also stopped the visitors from potentially getting a foothold back into the game when they were trailing by just one goal.
Biggest gaffe
There were quite a few to pick from - all from the QPR camp, of course - but the "winner" has to be McCarthy's fumble from Mahrez's tame shot which fell to Vardy and enabled Leicester to open the scoring. The visitors were under the cosh anyway at that stage but, as the opening goal, who knows what could have happened if QPR could have held on and enjoyed their bright spell on an even footing in terms of scoreline.
Referee performance
Michael Oliver had very little impact on the game. Some QPR players were complaining that Vardy's opener was offside, but replays showed that it was indeed onside and rightly awarded. Aside from that there were few points of contention as the game effectively panned out in auto-pilot mode from a refereeing perspective.
What next?
Leicester: There will be celebrations among the Foxes staff and supporters as the club ends its first season back in the Premier League in 14th place, after which Pearson will work towards more of the same in the next campaign.
QPR: For the R's, meanwhile, there will be the bitter pill of relegation to swallow, after which Chris Ramsey and Les Ferdinand will look to rebuild and reshape their team ahead of the 2015-16 Championship season.
Giuseppe Labellarte
