Manchester City opened up a 17-point gap at the top of the Premier League table with a comfortable 2-0 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening.
Pep Guardiola's side thought they had taken the lead within the first five minutes as Fernandinho struck from distance, but Sergio Aguero was blocking Kasper Schmeichel's line of vision from an offside position, and Jamie Vardy also saw his effort on the stroke of half time ruled out by the linesman's flag.
Despite some rare forays forward from Leicester in the opening periods of the second half, Man City's dominance paid off in the 58th minute as left-back Benjamin Mendy curled in the opener with his right foot, as Leicester struggled to replicate the performance from their 5-2 Etihad triumph earlier in the campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Kevin De Bruyne was at the heart of City's second goal on the day as his defence-splitting pass found Gabriel Jesus, who combined with Raheem Sterling before tapping home in the 74th minute to hand Guardiola's side a comfortable victory.
The Citizens have now strung together a five-game winning run across all competitions - keeping clean sheets in their last four triumphs - while Leicester's three-game winning run was brought to an abrupt halt, but Chelsea's earlier defeat to West Bromwich Albion means that the Foxes are out of sight in third place, for now.
Leicester now have eight days to recover before their trip to top-four rivals West Ham United, while Man City must quickly turn their attention to Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Borussia Dortmund.
HIGHLIGHTS
5th min: Fernandinho lashes a long-range effort into the back of the net, but the linesman's flag is up as Sergio Aguero was in an offside position and blocking Kasper Schmeichel's line of vision.
Fernandinho has the ball in the net for City but it has been disallowed for a Sergio Aguero offside. 👀
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2021
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19th min: City's utter domination nearly pays off as Timothy Castagne's clearance only finds Riyad Mahrez - the ball cannons off his chest into Aguero's path but his first-time volley sails over the bar.
23rd min: Kevin De Bruyne's wild effort is too high to trouble Schmeichel, but Anthony Taylor pulls it back for a free kick. The Belgian playmaker rattles the crossbar with his thunderous effort and Leicester clear the danger.
Kevin De Bruyne is inches away from opening the scoring after rattling the crossbar with a thunderous free-kick! 📏
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2021
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24th min: Kyle Walker plays a delightful ball into the box, but Gabriel Jesus's touch takes it wide of Schmeichel's near post.
27th min: Neat build-up play between Mahrez and Jesus nearly ends with Aguero being presented with a tap-in, but Schmeichel manages to gather at his near post.
41st min: Mahrez is presented with a magnificent opportunity to break the deadlock after Jesus's neat flick, but Schmeichel sticks a leg out and keeps the scores level. De Bruyne follows up with a long-range effort seconds later which goes inches wide of the post.
44th min: Jesus cuts inside from the left and aims for the top corner with a powerful effort, but the Brazilian's shot is high and wide.
45th min: Jamie Vardy is played through by Ayoze Perez and slots home, but the linesman correctly flags for offside and the sides cannot be separated in the first half.
48th min: Youri Tielemans skips away from Benjamin Mendy and gets a shot away from outside the area, but Ederson safely gathers down low.
50th min: De Bruyne whips in a delightful free kick which reaches Rodri at the back post, but the midfielder does not anticipate the ball coming to him and he cannot control it.
51st min: Leicester break and Kelechi Iheanacho finds Tielemans, but Ruben Dias gets a vital block in to send it behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.
56th min: Jesus gets away down the left and picks out Aguero at the far post, and the Argentine's effort is blocked before the resulting corner fails to bear fruit.
58th min: Man City's dominance finally pays off, and it's a rare goal for Benjamin Mendy. The ball falls kindly in the area for the left-back, who cuts inside before calmly finishing with his right foot. 0-1 Man City.
Benjamin Mendy opens the scoring with a well-taken finish and celebrates by giving Sergio Aguero a peck on the cheek! 💋
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2021
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74th min: Man City double their lead, and it has been coming. De Bruyne once again pulling the strings from midfield as he finds Jesus with a pinpoint pass, and the Brazilian combines with Raheem Sterling in the area before tapping home. 0-2 Man City.
Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus combine for City's second after Kevin De Bruyne's perfectly weighted through pass. ⚖
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2021
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78th min: Jonny Evans loses out to Jesus and De Bruyne feeds Mahrez, but he spurns a magnificent opportunity to score against his former club before being substituted.
83rd min: The ball falls kindly for Leicester substitute James Maddison on the edge of the area, but the playmaker's effort was always rising.
86th min: Maddison gets another shot away from close range, but his effort is too tame to trouble Ederson, who calmly gathers.
MAN OF THE MATCH - KEVIN DE BRUYNE
© Reuters
Kevin De Bruyne misplaced a few more passes than he would have liked at the King Power, and he failed to add to his goals or assists tally, but the inspirational playmaker was involved in almost everything good for the visitors on Saturday.
De Bruyne so nearly broke the deadlock in the first half twice, and his defence-splitting pass gave Jesus the opportunity to put the game to bed in the second 45, although an overreaction to a flailing arm from Daniel Amartey late on was a blot on his notebook before his substitution in the 88th minute.
STANDOUT MOMENT
© Reuters
Making just his ninth Premier League start of the season, veteran midfielder Fernandinho thought he had drawn first blood within the first five minutes as his long-range effort found the bottom corner, but Sergio Aguero had been in Kasper Schmeichel's way and Leicester's vocal protests for the goal to be disallowed ended up proving successful.
BEST STAT
👀
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) April 3, 2021
Leicester didn't complete a single pass between the 19th and 25th minutes of today's game - went a total of 6 minutes and 4 seconds without a successful pass.
Manchester City completed 53 passes during that period. pic.twitter.com/A3tFMmG15L
MATCH STATS
Possession: Leicester 43%-57% Man City
Shots: Leicester 5-11 Man City
Shots on target: Leicester 2-4 Man City
Corners: Leicester 1-1 Man City
Fouls: Leicester 11-12 Man City
LINEUPS
Leicester (3-4-1-2): Schmeichel; Fofana, Evans, Amartey; Albrighton (Pereira 71'), Ndidi (Mendy 83'), Tielemans, Castagne; Perez; Iheanacho (Maddison 71'), Vardy
Man City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Mendy; Rodri, Fernandinho, De Bruyne (Foden 88'); Mahrez (Torres 79'), Aguero (Sterling 62'), Jesus
No Data Analysis info
