Leicester City moved closer to Premier League survival as they beat West Brom at The Hawthorns to secure their first win in four Premier League games. After a dull first 43 minutes, Leicester broke the deadlock when Shinji Okazaki intercepted Salomon Rondon's poor backpass and fed Jamie Vardy, who finished coolly past Ben Foster. Vardy, who had just one shot on target all afternoon, almost turned provider in the second period but Okazaki failed to connect with his cross. West Brom, who are attempting to reach a club-record Premier League points tally of 50, have failed to score in five consecutive games for the first time in their history, losing four of them.

A low-key first half was largely dominated by scraps in midfield, and Leicester's Danny Drinkwater was lucky to escape with only a yellow card after a reckless challenge on Nacer Chadli. Claudio Yacob, following an earlier tackle on Vardy, was also booked, after elbowing Okazaki. Vardy's first-time finish - his 13th league goal of the season - proved to be the match-winner, hauling the Foxes up to the 40-point mark. The champions are now nine points clear of Swansea, who play Manchester United on Sunday, with four games remaining. Tony Pulis' teams have won only six of the 43 Premier League games they have played after reaching 40 points, which is seen as the tally needed to guarantee safety.

Last season, West Brom reached the mark on 2 April, but added only three points from their final seven matches. And history seems to be repeating itself for Pulis, formerly manager of Stoke City and Crystal Palace. In the eight games since they reached 40 points this season - on 25 February - the Baggies have secured just four points. Victory against Arsenal and a draw at Manchester United have been overshadowed by six defeats - and four in a row. Their problem has been scoring goals - they have now gone 465 minutes without hitting the back of the net. That leaves Pulis and his side with four games to find another six points and set a club record.

Pulis' counterpart at Leicester, Craig Shakespeare, has taken 19 points from a possible 27 since the departure of Claudio Ranieri, who took only 14 from his last 20 matches in charge. And Vardy's goalscoring form has seen a similar upturn in the same period. The England striker has scored eight goals in 12 games under Shakespeare, as many as he netted in 32 appearances under Ranieri this season. But, despite their improvement, the Foxes arrived at The Hawthorns without a win in their past five matches. Vardy's goal ended that run - and ensured Shakespeare, a former Albion player and coach, had a happy return to The Hawthorns.