Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City: 5 talking points as the Foxes give Guardiola's men a run for their money | Premier League 2021-22
In a closely contested fight, Manchester City had the last laugh as they beat Leicester 1-0 away from home through a Bernardo Silva goal in the second half. City are now second only to Manchester United in the Premier League points table at the moment, with nine points from their first four games played.
The first few exchanges of the game were totally dominated by the two defenses, specifically the Leicester duo of Caglar Soyuncu and vestergaard" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jannik Vestergaard. Adding schmeichel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kasper Schmeichel to the equation, it seemed like Leicester were cruising to at least a point in the game.
But Manchester City's persistence paid off as they kept on attacking the hosts' goal with every opportunity coming towards them.
The visitors finally broke the deadlock through Bernardo Silva when a Joao Cancelo shot was blocked by Caglar Soyuncu but fell to the Portuguese starlet's feet, who coolly finished from close range.
It was far from over though as the Foxes stuck to their game plan of breaking on the counter. They were almost rewarded for it, with Jamie Vardy and Ademola Lookman coming close for the home side, just for the City defense to keep them at bay.
Guardiola's men put up a focused display all the way till the 93rd minute and earned their third clean sheet in a row after a grueling run of fixtures to start this season. Without much ado, let's dive into the five important talking points from the game.
#1 Persistence earns three points for Manchester City
After Manchester City's loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final, there seems to be a clear-cut guide on how to play Guardiola's men. Leicester perfectly coupled their disciplined defending with a combination of high-pressing and quick passing to frustrate the Citizens up until the hour mark.
But the reigning champions of the land were expectedly ready for such a show and never showed a moment of restlessness as they kept on attacking Kasper Schmeichel's goal. They finally reaped the rewards when Bernardo Silva opened the scoring after just an hour of play.
It was also a personal victory for the Portuguese playmaker as he was repeatedly played offside and shut down by his Leicester counterparts in the first half. One might argue that Manchester City's goal came with a lot of luck attached to it, but it was a bonus point for Silva to be in the right place at the right time to earn three massive points for Guardiola.
#2 Kasper Schmeichel's heroics restrict Manchester City's tally to just one goal
There is no doubt Kasper Schmeichel is the real strength of the King Power Stadium every time the Danish stopper steps onto the pitch. It was a routine day at the office for Schmeichel as he made some match-defining saves to keep the scoreline less humbling for the Foxes.
Manchester City attempted 25 shots in the game, eight of which were on target and seven of those were met by the enormous figure of Schmeichel in goal as he continued to be the difference between the two sides time in and time out.
Including Silva's goal, Manchester City accumulated an xG (Expected Goal) tally of 2.76, but Schmeichel had one of his best days to deny more than a goal going in.
Not only just from a defensive point of view, the Dane's distribution to the high-flying full-backs and the pacey front three was also commendable as he completed the most successful long balls in the game (12). Schmeichel was also seen instructing his centre-backs quite often, denying City space from the middle.