Manchester City earned an unconvincing and unconvincing 2-0 away win at Leicester City on Sunday afternoon to end a terrible run of form.
Goals by Savinha and Erling Haaland either side of half-time decided City’s final game of 2024, but their hosts squandered numerous golden chances between those two converted strikes.
Despite Leicester’s best efforts, the reigning Premier League champions held on for all three points in what was the club’s first win away from the Etihad Stadium in more than two months.
How the match unfolded
“We will be back,” Pep Guardiola said before the game. City are back to winning ways but still seem like a pale imitation of themselves.
The game quickly settled into a pattern that became painfully familiar City fans. As the defending champions piled on bursts of possession and set up camp in Leicester’s defensive third, they proved dramatically vulnerable to any vaguely organized forward penetration.
Leicester had the better chances in the first 20 minutes, but it was City who took the lead. The unaligned visitors strung together a rare move of cohesion, sneaking around and then behind a four-man blue-shirted midfield line with a series of passes that were in play Phil Foden for a long shot.
Jakub Stolarczyk, making only the second major league appearance of his career, parried Foden’s rebound into the path of Savinha. The Brazilian blasted the visitors in front with a particularly cathartic effort. The summer arrival failed with his first 27 Premier League shots of the season and was treated to boisterous, if slightly ironic, chants of “He scored the goal” from the traveling City contingent.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s hosts were not deflated by the deficit. If nothing else, taking the lead left Manchester City tense with even more anxiety as the threat of giving up another lead seeped into the seams of their sky blue shirts.
Leicester were not limited to sporadic counter-attacks, allowing time and space to construct the dizzying passing sequences that were once City’s signature. Facundo Buonanotte found himself on the end of two such moves, but failed to capitalize on each opportunity, hitting the post in the first half. Even Pep GuardiolaMost formidable opponent Jamie Vardy – a striker who has scored more goals against Catalan sides than any other player – proved uncharacteristically stubborn, hitting volley after volley from close range.
Erling Haaland was wasteful himself during the first hour, but he doubled City’s lead late on just as Leicester gathered momentum. Substitute James McAtee’s crisp footwork created rare space for Savinho to step onto a cross at the back post that Haaland headed in.
City’s second win at any venue since the end of October took them up to fifth in the Premier League table.
Check out the player ratings for Leicester vs Man City here.
“We’re trying everything,” sighed City centre-back Manuel Akanji before the game. However, the team’s collective attempts to get the ball back quickly failed repeatedly. The feverish press that Guardiola once described as the “secret” to his side’s success has been completely crushed.
Every time City lost the ball on Sunday, Leicester had oceans of space to attack. This is nothing new for the deflated champions during this gloomy period, but their passivity in the established game was even more astonishing.
Leicester strung together 44 unbroken passes before Bilal El Khannous curled a cross into the box in the first half. A devilish delivery eluded the three blue shirts and left Facundo Buonanotte to hit his forehead against the post. The Argentinian hit the box later in the game and then went close to a penalty after another long run of passes in the second half.
When faced with City’s accessible approach, a previously passive Leicester amassed season highs in passing (530) and hit rate (93%).
The point drought is a relative term in football. Haaland has gone just four games without scoring – which for most mere mortals is hardly worthy of recognition – but the Nordic goalscorer lives up to the high standards he has set for himself. As City’s number nine once pointed out: “The Norwegian media when I don’t score: ‘No goal!’ That’s the title. That’s right.”
Those pesky sub-editors at Dagbladet he may have been lining up a repeat of the familiar reliable title for much of Sunday’s game. Haaland shot straight at Stolarczyk with his significantly weaker right foot early on and pulled another one to his left in the first half. There was a blocked header and general disarray over the striker who did it I’ve been criticizing myself for the last few weeks.
Despite this, Haaland continued to step forward and eventually received his just reward. Halfway through the season, the supposedly struggling striker boasts a modest tally of just 14 league goals – more than all but one Premier League player.
As Haaland produced a wry smile and Kevin De Bruyne fiercely punched the air on the edge of the penalty area, several sky blue shirts swarmed the diminutive figure of James McAtee. City’s unheralded academy graduate came on for Phil Foden midway through the second half and impressed with every sharp touch on the ball.
McAtee’s quick change of direction created space for Haaland’s second goal. The 22-year-old also went close with a bending effort from distance, his name featured prominently in the away side and generally bringing a much-needed burst to the tired champions.
Despite being available for every game, the Salford-born schemer has only made two previous Premier League appearances this season – both coming in stoppage time. Such minimal involvement led to reports of transfer four Premier League clubs are interested, along with Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund. Guardiola may not be that interested in getting rid of McAtee just yet.
As City’s manager said after the game: “He did everything well. The way he played and all the actions were good. He proved that he can play more and will play more.”
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