Jesus strikes late as City battle to victory against Leicester

Albeit despite a dogged display from Leicester, Manchester City reduced the gap to Liverpool to 19 points with a 1-0 victory.

Both sides made three changes from their previous fixture, with experienced fullback come centre-back Christian Fuchs, Dennis Praet and Kelechi Iheanacho starting for Leicester in place of Harvey Barnes, Ayoze Perez and the suspended Hamza Choudhury.

The visitors replaced Nicolas Otamendi, Gabriel Jesus and David Silva with Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho and Riyad Mahrez, showcasing further the depth of their squad in comparison with their opponents.

The first real chance of the match came for Leicester and their talisman, Jamie Vardy.

A combination of Iheanacho and Youri Tielemans thread the experienced striker one-on-one with Ederson. He beat the Brazilian, but couldn’t beat the frame of the goal.

City responded with a chance of their own. Smart movements from Kevin De Bruyne allowed former Fox Riyad Mahrez to curl an effort at a good height for Kasper Schmeichel.

The Dane was tested again, this time by Gundogan who didn’t catch it, but a save was still forced and City earned a corner which was aptly dealt with by Jonny Evans.

On social media, the performances of Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva during the first half weren’t taking centre stage. Instead, their rather questionable attire.

Leicester City vs Man City pic.twitter.com/aBBu5bqyDb

— Player Packs (@playerpacksuk) February 22, 2020

Man city’s kit ??? pic.twitter.com/QMoDNeGSye

— Lena67 (@Barney_Boy67) February 22, 2020

James Maddison was the latest to test Ederson. A free-kick whipped from 30 yards but easily covered by the Brazilian.

Both were again involved in a penalty shout. A chipped through ball from the former Norwich attacking midfielder found Iheanacho. It appeared as if Ederson missed the ball and followed through to the Nigerian’s face when coming to punch away the delivery, however he made contact with the ball and it ended in a Leicester corner and a sore head for Iheanacho, which would eventually lead to his substitution.

City put the ball in the back of the net from an offside position in the twilight period of the opening 45, but Sergio Aguero was unfortunately ruled offside for the visitors. Riyad Mahrez also shanked a freekick before referee Paul Tierney blew the whistle for the interval.

Kevin De Bruyne had the first effort of the second half ten minutes in – but once again Schmeichel emulated his previous efforts with a stunning save.

Just two minutes later though, and with the assistance of VAR, a penalty was awarded. Ilkay Gundogan’s effort was blocked unnaturally by the hand of Dennis Praet. Although the penalty was correctly awarded, Leicester had the right to be incensed after a penalty was denied to them for a similar incident.

Aguero stepped up, but with his left knee Schmeichel once again was the hero. He denied another one-on-one with the Argentine shortly afterwards.

City were beginning to take control of the match in the fashion we have seen so often in the last three years – but the goal still eluded them. Aguero’s failure to convert was their fourth consecutive missed penalty. Ederson’s there for you Pep! Use him!

Fantastic work from Harvey Barnes saw Ricardo Pereira faced with a situation akin to last season, in which he blasted in to win Claude Puel’s Leicester the match against City. This time he slipped and sliced wide.

Substitute Gabriel Jesus had his first involvement with a drilled effort – Schmeichel again more than equal to it but it didn’t test the Dane.

He had another chance though, and you don’t give him two. Brilliant work from Riyad Mahrez saw the Brazilian through. A snapshot at the near post crept into the corner, and Gabriel Jesus was the City hero. They are yet to lose a Premier League game in which he has scored.

A better moment for Leicester occurred fitness wise and sentimentally, with club stalwart Matty James making it onto a Premier League field for the first time in two years as he replaced the inconsistent Dennis Praet in minute 84.

City just bossed the game from thereon in. They looked back to their imperious best in this final period – not giving the league’s third best side this season a sniff.

Stonadge’s Man of the Match – Fernandinho

For a man in his mid thirties, this man is an absolute anomaly in his position.

But that’s the astonishing thing about him. He isn’t playing in his preferred position.

You’d have thought with the explosive pace of Jamie Vardy, the former Shakhtar man would be exposed – but everything he did, alongside Frenchman Aymeric Laporte, was excellent in terms of shutting him down.

His ball retention struck me especially – maybe with the more assured central defender next to him he can excel and potentially extend his career with the Citizens for a few more years.

Leicester City: Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Fuchs (Perez 90), Chilwell; Maddison, Tielemans, Praet (James 84); Iheanacho (Barnes 45), Vardy

Substitutes: Ward, Justin, Morgan, Albrighton,

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Laporte, Mendy; Rodri, Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, De Bruyne; Aguero (Jesus 76)

Substitutes: Bravo, Stones, Cancelo, Otamendi, Foden, Silva