Manchester City defeat Leicester 2-0, return back to winning ways
Manchester City registered a much-needed victory over Leicester City with a 2-0 scoreline at the King Power Stadium. The win was special as it came on Pep Guardiola's 500th game as the manager of the team. This win pushed Manchester City back into the top five, after a string of poor performances in their last nine games.
Savinho and Haaland secure victory for Manchester City
The match witnessed Savinho score his first Premier League goal, handing Manchester City an early lead. However, the team's first-half performance wasn't entirely convincing. Leicester City's Jamie Vardy had a penalty claim turned down after he was tackled by Stefan Ortega, with the offside flag being raised. James Justin's header hit the post just before halftime, adding to the tension of the match.
Haaland ends scoring drought in Manchester City's win
Post-interval, Leicester City maintained their search for an equalizer with Vardy just missing a close-range shot. However, it was Erling Haaland who stole the show by ending his nearly month-long goal drought. He scored Manchester City's second goal of the match, and his first in four weeks, after connecting with Savinho's cross during a counterattack with just 15 minutes remaining on the clock.
Match stats and points table
The Foxes had 4 shots on target compared to City's 5. Leicester had 1.46 expected goals to their opponent's 1.40. Leicester had 26 touches in the opposition box. The visitors had 25. The hosts managed 54% ball possession. City are 5th with nine wins, four draws and six defeats. They have 31 points from 19 matches. Leicester are 18th with 14 points collected.
Guardiola completes 500 matches as City manager
As per Opta, Pep became the first manager to take charge of a Premier League club 500 times in all competitions since David Moyes reached that figure for Everton in January 2013. After 500 games, he has 355 wins (D73 L72).
Two wins in 14 matches across competitions for City
City recorded their 2nd win in 14 matches across competitions. Before this victory, they enjoyed a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. City recorded nine defeats and three draws in this run of 14 games. The Citizens have conceded a 28 goals in these 14 matches. Notably, they have conceded two-plus goals in 11 of these matches. On the other hand, they have scored only 17 goals. This was just their 2nd clean sheet.
Haaland scores his 14th Premier League goal this season
Playing his 85th Premier League match, Haaland now owns 77 goals. He has 14 assists. Haaland in involved in 15 Premier League goals this season (G14 A1).
