It was a contest of second versus third as Manchester City welcome Leicester City to the Ethiad. The atmosphere was tense and nervy around the stadium. Possibly, more than the players the fans felt the enormity and importance of the tie as a pivotal and defining encounter for both sides but one side definitely more than the other. With a whopping 14 points adrift the log leaders Liverpool, last season’s champions knew this was the break or make game as they couldn’t afford to drop any more points else any lingering but slim hope of winning the league this year evaporates.
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The game kicked off with Manchester City dominating proceedings as expected but what every football fan who’s been following Leicester City this season knew they were capable of was breaking away with devastating counter-attacks, a fact Man City fan are well aware of and that gave them the chills every time the black and gold wearing men of Kings Power tried their famous move. It soon paid off, Jamie Vardy broke away with pace from his marker and superbly lobbed Ederson in goal within a twinkle of an eye Leicester was up by a goal.
Credit to the Cityzens they kept their cool and stuck with their game plan which was to keep as much possession of the ball as possible and to keep shifting their opponents defense from side to side until an opportunity presents itself to run into the middle and that’s exactly what they did when the Algerian Ryad Mahrez got on to a crossfield pass and slid beyond his marker to shoot at goal from outside the 18 yard. The shot took a heavy deflection which aided it in sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and the ball cooly rolling into the net.
Manchester City was completely dominant and soon their hard work was to be rewarded. Raheem Sterling drew a foul in the Lecceister box and Referee Martin Atkinson obliged by pointing to the penalty spot. Gundugan stepped up and send the ball low and hard beyond the outstretching goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to make it 2-1.
The Cityzens would make it three to put the game beyond Leicester when Kevin De Bruyne drove at the heart of the Leceister defense beating two defenders before sending a square ball across the face of goal and Gabriel Jesus was on hand to for a tap in which he had to stretch to reach.
The game ended 3-1 in favour of the home side and although City remains third on the log they are now just one point behind second-placed Leceister City and a few more wins might see them change that narrative.
It’s almost unthinkable to suggest that City could still win the league at this point given the huge gap in points and Liverpool’s current form but a streak of wins like this is what manager, Pep Guardiola would demand from his boys week in, week out. Recalling that they won the league in a similar fashion last season, more wins like this will keep Liverpool honest and on their toes. If you are a fan of either side the rest of the season promises lots of emotion testing and possibly wrecking matches but for the neutrals, it makes for an exciting watch.