Mahrez hits hat-trick, Bakambu bags brace

In Spain, DR Congo striker Cedric Bakambu scored twice to help get Villarreal's season back on track with a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano.

ENGLAND

RIYAD MAHREZ (Leicester City)

Algeria winger Mahrez said that he had had "the perfect day" after his first career hat-trick earned Leicester a 3-0 win at Swansea City that sent them to the top of the table. Mahrez bundled in a Marc Albrighton corner in the fifth minute, ran through to score from N'Golo Kante's lofted pass in the 22nd minute -- despite appearing to be offside -- and converted a ball from Jamie Vardy for his hat-trick goal 23 minutes from time. He has now scored 10 goals this season.

ODION IGHALO (Watford)

Ighalo's excellent form continued as he scored and won a penalty in a 2-0 home win over Norwich City. The Nigeria striker drew a foul from Alexander Tettey that allowed Troy Deeney to put the hosts in front with a 30th-minute penalty and the Watford skipper returned the favour in stoppage time with a through ball that Ighalo slammed past goalkeeper Declan Rudd for his ninth goal of the campaign.

WILFRIED BONY (Manchester City)

Ivorian striker Bony symbolised City's problems in attack as Manuel Pellegrini's team slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Stoke City that saw them concede first place in the table. The former Swansea striker, who has gone five league games without a goal, barely got a kick as Stoke dominated and was replaced by Nigerian starlet Kelechi Iheannacho before the hour.

GERMANY

ANTHONY UJAH (Werder Bremen)

The 25-year-old Nigerian striker hit his seventh league goal to salvage a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Stuttgart as Bremen stayed just above the drop zone. Ujah scored from close range after good approach work from Levin Oztunali. Ujah's seven goals account for almost half of his team's 15 in the Bundesliga this season.

FRANCE

CASIMIR NINGA (Montpellier)

The Chad striker netted his second brace in three games as Montpellier drew 2-2 at Marseille. Ninga, who also scored twice in last week's 4-2 win at Lyon, gave Montpellier a 32nd-minute lead at the Velodrome before he pounced on a Karim Rekik error on 56 minutes to nudge the visitors back in front, only for Montpellier to again concede.

CHEIKH N'DOYE (Angers)

The Senegalese midfielder grabbed both goals in a 2-0 win over crisis-hit Lyon to propel promoted Angers back up to second. N'Doye headed home a Thomas Mangani free-kick to give Angers a 17th-minute lead at the Stade de Gerland before he added a second following a corner nine minutes from time.

CEDRIC BAKAMBU (Villarreal)

DR Congo striker Bakambu helped get Villarreal's season back on track as he scored twice to hand the Yellow Submarine just their second victory in eight league games in a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano. Bakambu now has nine goals in just 16 appearances for Villarreal.

NABIL EL ZHAR (Las Palmas)

Moroccan winger El Zhar scored his first goal for Las Palmas, but it mattered little as the Canary Islanders lost 3-1 to Sporting Gijon.

GERVINHO (Roma)

Ivory Coast star Gervinho returned a week earlier than expected from a three-week injury lay-off to line up for Roma's 1-1 draw at Torino, only to last less than half an hour when he pulled up with a suspected recurrence of his initial thigh problem. Roma are still winless in the absence of both Gervinho and Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah. Gervinho is now fighting for fitness ahead of Wednesday's Champions League group decider at home to BATE Borisov.

KWADWO ASAMOAH (Juventus)

Asamoah made his third appearance but first start of the season as Juventus deployed a 3-5-2 for the visit to Lazio and made a positive impression on the left wing for the resurgent champions. The Ghanaian midfielder notably saw an angled drive from inside the area flash past the post in the first half before he was replaced by Patrice Evra with 20 minutes remaining.