To think that Manchester City will get rid of its bad streak sooner rather than later. That he did it in a game where he didn’t win possession, not so much. Less if we are ahead of Leicester (0-2), a team relegated from this Premier League and had deserved to win some points against Pep Guardiola’s team, still gray and with many doubts but that closes the year with more than enough joy.
With De Bruyne the only new addition to the City eleven, the stopwatch didn’t have to run much to notice that something was happening in the team. It was not a question of attitude, and even Haaland, assisted by the Belgian, could have given Guardiola some peace of mind a few minutes later, but Stolarczyk responded with a save. An action that countered the mistake he made almost halfway through, when he gave Savinho the chance to score after a bad deflection of a likely easy shot by Foden (21′). A first for the former Girona player in this Premier League.
Before City got on the scoreboard first, however, the team’s kits were visible. Etihad fans have been praying for the return of Stones and Rúben Dias and it’s no coincidence, as the team is a powder keg without the ball. Advance pressure does not work. That or Leicester were as inspired by El Khannouss, the best of the first half, and they once again overcame Guardiola’s plan, stunned by a move which, luckily for him, was ruled out for offside when Ortega gave Vardy a penalty. . Despite this, the most outstanding of the ‘citizens’ was the goalkeeper himself, who set up a point for Gvardiol after a serious mistake by Vardy and stopped Justin’s goal when the team was already in front.
Leicester finished the first half dominating. So at the end of the first 45 minutes possession was exactly evenly distributed between both teams. Another sign that things are not working. And it could have been worse, as Van Nistelrooy had to see how his team found themselves with a header against the woodwork from Buonanotte, while the only thing City had apart from the goal was a personal game by Haaland who did not enter for a long time. long.
| Pos | eq | Pts | Q | v | AND | d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 31 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 6 | |
| 18 |
|
14 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
See the full classification
The match took a turn for the worse after the break in favor of the current champion. After Buonanotte claimed a penalty from Aké, Leicester took more control. Up to 55% possession was accumulated by the ‘Fox’ team, who finished the game having more possession than their rivals, who were better here in England. It is true that control does not translate sometimes. Guardiola was forced to ‘betray’ his style and City decided to defend in their own field, removing Foden from the shadow field of last season’s MVP for the young McAtee, key to his entry, in addition to providing entry to Walker for Aké. Time stopped on just one occasion, one that Vardy did not typically fail. Mavididi put in a great cross and parried the English scorer, giving Manchester a chance to strike.
He did it in an action initiated by McAtee, who at one time on the field had done more than Foden in almost an hour. A sumptuous croquette stuck to the youth team’s side was the start of a play that ended with a header from Haaland for the team’s peace of mind (74′). Protagonist Savinho this time as an assistant. And he defended himself again, and lost even more time, as Ortega saw a yellow for a delayed goal kick against none other than Leicester, who although he put the will into the game, were satisfied with the last shot from Vardy deflecting the crosshead and little else.
match lineup
41
2
16
24
4
23
40
8
9
11
10
18
82
24
8
25
6
47
17
9
20
26
King Power Stadium
Stephen Ortega18
77′
69′
Rico Lewis82
Josko Guardiol24
55′
Matthew Kovacic8
84′
Manuel Akanji25
Nathan Ake6
69′
Phil Foden47
65′
84′
Kevin De Bruyne17
Erling Haaland9
73′
64′
Bernard Silva20
89′
Savino26
20′
Replacements
Scott Carson33
84′
Kyle Walker2
69′
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey66
Jack Grealish10
69′
Ilkay Gundogan19
Nico O’Reilly75
89′
James McAtee87
65′
Jeremy Doku11
84′
Divine Mubama67
coach
Ruud van Nistelrooij
Pep Guardiola
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
