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Manchester City blitzed past Leicester City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium as the defending champions trimmed down Liverpool’s lead at the perch of the Premier League table. The visitors, meanwhile, wasted an opportunity to go further clear of the Sky Blues.
The Cityzens began the game brilliantly and immediately imposed their identity on the encounter. However, they were caught out by the proverbial sucker punch in the 22nd minute when Jamie Vardy raced through on goal and cleverly clipped the ball over Ederson.
City though, restored parity eight minutes later when Riyad Mahrez’s shot took an enormous deflection off Caglar Soyuncu to beat Kasper Schmeichel. A couple of minutes before half time, Raheem Sterling was brought down in the box by Ricardo, meaning that the hosts were awarded a spot-kick. Ilkay Gundogan converted the resulting penalty to ensure that the Sky Blues entered the break with a one-goal cushion.
After re-emerging from the tunnel, Leicester looked slightly more adventurous, although that only exposed more gaps at the back. Subsequently, City made the most of those openings as Kevin de Bruyne set up Gabriel Jesus for the latter’s first goal at the Etihad this season.
Here is a look at the hits and flops from the game.
#5 Jamie Vardy – Hit
Leicester came into the encounter in 2nd place and hoped to underline their credentials as Liverpool’s closest title challengers in the current campaign. Inevitably, all eyes turned to Jamie Vardy with plenty expecting the Englishman to come up trumps against Pep’s troops, again.
And, though he scored his customary goal against the Sky Blues, he was largely let down by his teammates, meaning that the Foxes succumbed to their first loss since the 5th of October.
On the personal front, the striker caused more than a furrowed brow among the City ranks. He was exceptional with his movement and always played on the shoulder of the last defender. In the process, Fernandinho and Otamendi were caught wrong-side plenty of times.
Additionally, his tendency to drift onto the flanks during swift counter-attacks dragged the centre-backs out of position and accorded him the adequate space to cause havoc. The aforementioned traits came to the fore for the Foxes’ goal when Vardy isolated himself with Fernandinho on the left channel. The Englishman then outpaced the Brazilian before clinically dinking the ball over Ederson.
The striker also set up Harvey Barnes a couple of times with superb crosses, although his compatriot fluffed his lines. Hence, Vardy turned in a relatively accomplished performance and it was a pity that he couldn’t have anything more than a goal to show for it.
#4 Wilfred Ndidi – Flop
A few seasons ago, Leicester unwillingly let go of N’Golo Kante as the Frenchman went on to establish himself as the bed-rock of Chelsea’s immediate title-winning campaign. However, rather fortunately, they stumbled upon an ideal replacement in Wilfred Ndidi, meaning that the blow was softened just a touch.
Ever since, the Nigerian has morphed into a vital component of the Foxes’ machine with his importance growing significantly under Brendan Rodgers. Yet, when his side needed him to be counted against City, he failed, meaning that the hosts dominated midfield and laid the platform for a stunning victory.
Throughout the encounter, the midfielder was overrun as Bernardo Silva, de Bruyne and Gundogan passed the ball around him expertly. The Belgian, in particular, proved an extremely tough proposition to mark, thereby catching Ndidi out of position on a plethora of occasions. Apart from the above, the Nigerian also wasn’t able to offer enough passing conviction as Leicester gave the ball away and invited even more pressure upon themselves.
And, while Ndidi’s performance might not specifically be embodied by his lack of creativity, his failure to provide the necessary defensive shield enabled the hosts to assert their identity and eventually, script a convincing victory.
#3 Riyad Mahrez – Hit
Pep Guardiola decided to ring in the changes post the 3-0 triumph at Arsenal, meaning that quite a few who hadn’t featured last Sunday were called upon. Riyad Mahrez represented one of the beneficiaries as the Algerian began the game from the outset against his former employers on Saturday. And, the winger ensured that his manager wasn’t too unfounded when asking the former to provide the requisite thrust on the right flank.
In the first period, Mahrez looked a bundle of energy and was undoubtedly the hosts’ most potent attacking weapon. The Algerian tied Ben Chilwell in knots with his movement and also linked up well with those around him. Additionally, he was brave enough to ask for the ball in tight circumstances and his touch rarely let him down as he brought countless passes down from the Mancunian sky.
Most impressively though, the Algerian was willing to shift onto his right foot when isolated in 1v1 situations against the Leicester defenders. Consequently, it added another string to his attacking bow and created a new set of problems for the visitors.
To cap off his sizzling performance, he popped up with the equalizer, albeit via a massive deflection off Caglar Soyuncu. Even after the break, Mahrez looked sharp as he kept pushing and probing and he could’ve bagged himself another goal had Kasper Schmeichel not thrown out a giant right palm, just beyond the hour-mark.
In 2019-20, several unforeseeable ailments have plagued the Cityzens, whether it be the injury to Aymeric Laporte or the wretched form of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. Thus, at such a juncture, Guardiola would be extremely pleased that Mahrez, a player that had been on the periphery last term, has started carving a niche for himself in the side.
#2 Ben Chilwell – Flop
The Englishman has been touted as one of the nation’s premier full-backs and Ben Chilwell has done relatively well to live up to that hype. Yet, rather uncharacteristically, he turned in a poor performance at the Etihad, meaning that the Foxes were left tamely purring in Manchester.
The left-back was run ragged throughout the encounter by the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Mahrez with his positioning coming into question numerous times. Moreover, his decision making seemed slightly hurried and rash as he went to ground too quickly on occasions whereas he was also guilty of not sticking close to his marker on other instances.
City’s equalizer embodied the above when he allowed Mahrez to cut inside easily with the Algerian’s shot bobbling off Soyuncu and into the back of the net. Additionally, de Bruyne’s propensity to venture into the inside right channel created situations of numerical inferiority for Chilwell, thereby forcing him to not track one of the runners moving forward.
Offensively, the Englishman enjoyed one of his quieter games as the hosts barely afforded him the requisite space to foray into midfield while he was also too occupied dealing with City’s attacking threats.
Throughout the season, Chilwell has catapulted himself as one of the best left-backs in the Premier League. Yet, one reckons he might not want to reminisce about his performance at the Etihad too often in the future.
#1 Kevin De Bruyne – Hit
A week ago, Kevin de Bruyne turned in a virtuoso display against Arsenal as he ran the show and turned the Gunners’ defence and midfield inside out. Subsequently, he left the onlookers gaping in awe at his incredible ability to keep churning out decisive attacking moments.
And, on Saturday, the Belgian continued in the same vein, although he just fell short of the astronomical standards he had set for himself at the Emirates. In the first half, the midfielder orchestrated proceedings in the middle third and saw an awful amount of possession.
Unsurprisingly, he kept creating chances for his teammates while he also grazed the outside of the post with a side-footed snap shot from the right edge of the penalty box. Furthermore, he also conjured a sublime through-ball in the opening period when he picked out Sterling with an inch-perfect pass over the top.
After the break, the Belgian grew from strength to strength and roamed all across the attacking third in search of space. Consequently, he became a nightmare to mark as Ndidi was often left chasing shadows. And, in the 69th minute, the Belgian weaved his magic on the inside right channel before he drilled a low cross across the box, a pass that was ultimately finished off by Jesus.
Thus, through the contest, de Bruyne had only strengthened his burgeoning reputation as the best midfielder on the planet. Consequently, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the Etihad let out a collective gasp when he clutched his calf in the 90th minute.
Fortunately, though, he came off with what looked like a cramp, meaning that the Sky Blues’ worst fears were allayed. After all, if City are to pull off the most improbable of title heists, they need their Belgian talisman fit and firing on all cylinders.
