Soccer-Champions Leicester slip to new low at Southampton

* Southampton beat Leicester 3-0 to rise to 11th in Premier League

* Ward-Prowse opened the scoring after neat play from Soares

* Rodriguez put the hosts further ahead before the interval

* Saints defender Van Dyke hobbled off injured in second half

* Own goal by Leicester captain Morgan ruled out for offside

* Tadic got third after Morgan brought down Long for late penalty

* Saints next visit Swansea City on Jan. 31; Leicester at Burnley SOUTHAMPTON 3 LEICESTER CITY 0 Jan 22 ( Reuters) - Champions Leicester City's alarming slump continued with a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Southampton on Sunday that left them just five points off the drop zone and firmly embroiled in a relegation fight.

First-half goals for James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez plus a late penalty by Dusan Tadic led the Saints to a comfortable win that came at the cost of an injury to key defender Virgil van Dyke, who hobbled off in the second half.

Ward-Prowse opened the scoring after 26 minutes following good approach play from Cedric Soares, before Rodriguez doubled the lead in the 39th after reacting quickest to a bouncing ball in the box to fire a left-foot shot past the keeper.

After the break, Wes Morgan was fortunate when his own goal was ruled out for offside but Leicester's captain then held back Shane Long for a penalty that Tadic thumped home as Southampton emphatically ended a run of four successive league defeats. (Reporting by Neil Robinson; Editing by Ken Ferris)