Manchester City 1-0 Leicester City: 3 players who won the game for Pep Guardiola

Manchester City have successfully maintained their Premier League title hope after they secured a narrow win against a resolute Leicester City side at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola's men were bombarding Leicester's defense relentlessly throughout the match as expected.

They dominated the ball possession and outnumbered Leicester's shots by a considerable margin but The Sky Blue team registered just a single goal in the end. Several of Manchester City's deadly attackers surprisingly were underperforming in this match despite the fact that City are known for their superb offensive prowess.

It was mostly their defenders who were not letting Pep Guardiola down by maintaining an important clean sheet and they even got the goalscoring duties done to give City the 3 points. Now let's take a look at 3 of City's most impressive players who won the game for Pep.

#3 Bernardo Silva

Another impressive performance from the attacker

Manchester City's €50 million star has once again shown that he can justify his massive price tag by delivering a persistent display for his team. Bernardo had a somewhat difficult debut season for City, starting just 15 times in the league despite showing some signs of brilliance.

However, Pep Guardiola now seems to have figured out how to utilize him in the squad and the 24-year-old star has quickly established himself as one of the manager's favorites. The Portuguese successfully forms a deadly partnership with Raheem Sterling up front and has even played brilliantly in a deeper position.

He unarguably became Pep's most threatening forward who was willing to break Leicester's resolute defense the most. He had done everything from dribbling past opponents, attempted several shots, and providing key passes throughout the match.

He also helped the defense by registering 2 tackles. Unfortunately, the former Monaco player failed to find the net and wasn't able to provide an assist for his team in the end.

#2 Aymeric Laporte

The PFA seem to have done things right by including the French defender in their team of the season line-up. Laporte has quickly established himself as one of Pep Guardiola's most reliable center-backs since he joined the Citizens for a record-shattering £57 million in 2018.

His efficient defending and pinpoint passes have enabled him to suit Pep Guardiola's aggressive style perfectly despite playing as a center back. Interestingly, he has racked up 3 league assists and completed an incredible 92 percent of his deliveries on average throughout the season.

He showed another outstanding display for the Citizens as he kept everything under control at the back and kept Leicester's attackers quiet. He even looked to be more dangerous for Leicester's defense rather than Raheem Sterling as the center back created 3 key passes during the match.

His effort finally came into fruition after his pass got finished brilliantly by Vincent Kompany in the 70th minute.

#1 Vincent Kompany

The Belgian decided the fate of the game

The Belgian defender seems to have come back to his best after he started 3 of City's latest matches and kept a clean sheet in all of those games. Kompany has been through tough times at Manchester City as he has been rarely included in Pep Guardiola's plan in recent seasons.

This season, Pep has handed him just 12 starts in the Premier League. The 33-year-old also seems poised to find a footballing career elsewhere due to his contract expiring at the end of this season. However, his recent resurgence could mean that he would prolong his stay at the Etihad.

He provided another commanding display against Leicester and left Brendan Rodger's men isolated throughout the match. Jamie Vardy did not even have a single shot in the game thanks to the incredible partnership between the City's captain and Laporte. He also scored Manchester City's winning goal via a thunderous kick from outside the box.

Edited by Jidonu Mauyon