LONDON: More than 15 minutes after the final whistle, Leicester fans were still singing, finally ready to believe their team will become the unlikeliest of champions.

"We're going to win the league," they chanted continuously in unison after Leicester grabbed a third successive 1-0 victory on Saturday at Crystal Palace. "And now you're going to believe us."

The Selhurst Park stadium announcer tried to urge them to leave, but the visiting supporters responded in an instant: "We shall not be moved."

Just like the team will surely not be shifted from the Premier League summit. Not when it is provisionally eight points clear with seven matches to go.

The lethal double act of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy combined again to see off Palace, clinching a slender win emblematic of this astonishing pursuit of the title.

Mahrez arrived unmarked in the penalty area to meet Vardy's cross in the 34th minute at Selhurst Park and sweep in his 16th goal of the season.

A year after sitting bottom of the league before winning a late battle against relegation, Leicester is now poised to win the world's richest league for the first time. Tottenham, which trails Leicester by eight points, is still to play on Sunday against Bournemouth.

But a top-four finish now seems a certainty, giving Leicester a route into the Champions League for the first time.

"Our fans are singing, but we must stay concentrated," Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said. "The Champions League is close. It would be an amazing achievement."

Thirteen of Leicester's 31 league games have now been secured by one-goal margins. And like so often during this improbable bid for a first-ever league title, Leicester's opponent enjoyed most of the possession in London but clung on for the victory.

"I think they showed in the first half why they are top of the league," Palace manager Alan Pardew said. "We go couldn't make any impact on them ... it's very hard to get through them."