By Thomas Durning
Man City win with three first half goals.
Manchester City continued their great run of form as three first half goals under thirty minutes were enough to claim all three points at the Etihad against relegation strugglers Leicester.
Man City made three changes to the side that defeated Bayern Munich in the Champions League last time out. Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, and Ilkay Gundogan came out of the team, and they were replaced by Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, and Riyad Mahrez.
It was Dean’s Smith first game in charge of Leicester and for his first game in charge, he made four changes to the side that were defeated by Bournemouth last weekend. Daniel Amartey, Harvey Barnes, Boubakary Soumare, and Ricardo Pereira came out of the team, and they were replaced by Harry Souttar, Caglar Soyuncu, Youri Tielemans, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
From the first whistle, Man City dominated the ball as Leicester’s tactic was to sit deep in there 5-4-1 shape in the hope they could defend well and catch the home team on the counterattack.
There tactic did not last long as in the 5th minute of the match, Man City got there first goal of the evening. After a corner kick was failed to be properly cleared by Leicester, Rodri managed to header the ball in the direction of defender John Stones who then struck a well-timed left foot shot from the edge of the box which flew past the Leicester goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
It was the worst start possible for Leicester and seven minutes later it got worse for the away side as Man City were awarded a penalty. After a cross from Jack Grealish on the left-hand side, the ball struck the trailing hand of Leicester midfielder Wilfried Ndidi and after the referee went over to the monitor, he came back onto the pitch and pointed to the penalty spot.
The resulting penalty was hit by striker Erling Haaland who put the ball down on the spot and fired past keeper Iverson into the bottom left-hand corner. This goal from Haaland means he has now scored 32 Premier League goals this season.
It was turning into a nightmare for Leicester as just after sixteen minutes of the match, they were two down and only had 10% possession of the ball.
They did create there first half chance of the game in the 21st minute after good link up play from Dewsbury-Hall and Maddison just outside the box resulted in Maddison cutting in from the left but his shot was blocked and eventually the ball was cleared.
However, this sign of life didn’t materialise for Leicester as in the 25th minute, Man City made it three. After De Bruyne managed to win the ball back off Ndidi in the middle of the pitch, the midfielder sped away from the Leicester midfield which resulted in De Bruyne threading the ball through to Haaland who took a touch and calmly scored his second of the match and the home side’s third.
This was to be the last real action of the first half and Man City went into half time full of energy and confidence whereas Leicester looked dejected and a team lacking ideas and confidence.
The second half got underway and there was to be substitutions from both sides as Man City made two changes at half time and Leicester also made two changes as well.
The first twenty minutes of the second half was very slow as Man City dominated possession as they were allowed to pass the ball around with ease whereas Leicester made sure they defended deep to allow themselves not to concede more goals.
In the 61st minute, Man City created the first real chance of the second half. After the home side took a short corner, the ball eventually made its way to Mahrez who at the edge of the box, unleashed a left footed striker which was well saved by Iverson who tipped it over the bar.
The match was beginning to get too easy for Man City however in the 75th minute, Leicester managed to pull a goal back. After a corner from the away side, the ball is met by Souttar who headered the ball towards goal which Ederson could only palm away and it landed to striker Iheanacho who simply tapped the ball into the net.
The home side looked like they had completely lost their concentration and in the 79th minute, Leicester nearly had there second. After Iheanacho is given too much space at the edge of the box, he managed to get away from Dias before shooting but his shot just went over the bar.
In the 85th minute, again there was another chance for Leicester after defender Ruben Dias gave the ball away which resulted in Maddison going through on goal however his shot was well saved by Ederson.
Once again, in the 91st minute, Leicester hit the post after a brilliant pass by Maddison resulted in Iheanacho beating Ederson but his shot cannoned off the post and this was to be the last action of the match.
Despite there poor end to the match, the home side deservedly took all three points and will now be looking to the next match which is Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Man City: Ederson, Stones (Akanji 45’) Dias, Laporte, Rodri (Phillips 53’) Silva, Walker, Mahrez, De Bruyne (Palmer 62’) Grealish (Gomez 74’) Haaland (Alvarez 45’)
Subs not used: Gundogan, Lewis, Ortega, Ake
Leicester City: Iverson, Faes, Souttar, Soyuncu, Castagne, Ndidi (Daka 87’) Tielemans (Mendy 62’) Kristiansen (Thomas 45’) Maddison, Dewsbury-Hall (Praet 62’) Vardy (Iheanacho 45’)
Subs not used: Tete, Ward, Marcal, Amartey
Referee: Darren England
Reporter: Thomas Durning
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