Manchester City has regained its slender one point lead in the title race after defeating Leicester City at the Etihad 1-0. The Cityzens were put under pressure as Liverpool narrowly defeated Newcastle 3-2 at St. James’ Park on Saturday. Liverpool now must beat Wolves next weekend to have a chance at the title. Leicester City came to play at the Etihad and did not let the defending champions have it easy on their home ground.
Leiciester looked well drilled defensively by manager Brendan Rodgers. Coming out in a 4-1-4-1, Leicester did a lot of work on the defensive end, putting as many as four players out wide defending the flanks from crosses and switches into the middle. When Leicester did win the ball, they were very dangerous on the break.
Pep Guardiola made the odd decision of starting Phil Foden over Leroy Sane. Although Foden played on the right of City’s midfield three, Pep elected to push Bernardo Silva further forward rather than playing him deeper. City had to work very hard on the attack. Leicester was very difficult to break down and made City force a lot of passes. By halftime, things weren’t looking too good on City’s end.
The second half started much the same with Leicester sitting in and preventing City from creating any clear cut chances. On 56 minutes, Leroy Sane replaced Phil Foden, and City dropped Bernardo Silva into midfield. Sergio Aguero was eventually slipped through on goal, but Kasper Schmeichel made a great save to keep the match at 0-0.
James Maddison came close to making it 1-0 to Leicester with a right-footed curling effort a few steps from the top of the box. The shot went wide.
Then came the moment of the match. In the 70th minute, City hero Vincent Kompany received the ball 25 yards from goal and sent a rocket into the top corner.
Can you BELIEVE this moment? Vincent Kompany with an absolutely UNREAL goal from distance! #MCILEI pic.twitter.com/Vz8MbwiJ0a
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 6, 2019
Schmeichel couldn’t do a thing. The Etihad erupted and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. After Kompany’s goal, City started to wake up and improved their level of play. Leicester wasn’t done either, with former Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho missing horribly after being slipped through by Hamza Choudhury.
Kelechi Iheanacho with a big chance for Leicester, but he shouts "nah Liverpool fans will be unbearable" right before sticking it wide.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) May 6, 2019
City hung on and are now in the driving seat. City’s last match of the season is against Brighton away on the south coast. A win will guarantee the title returns to Manchester for another year.
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