Man City End Slump with Victory Over Leicester

Manchester City halt their recent poor form with a crucial win over Leicester, boosting their morale in the Premier League.

Manchester City offered Pep Guardiola some respite with a 2-0 win against Leicester on Sunday, marking only their second victory in 14 games for the English champions facing challenging times.

Savinho and Erling Haaland scored on either side of halftime, helping City break their streak of eight away games without a victory.

The performance was still well below the standards set by Guardiola’s team, who have won an unparalleled four consecutive English top-flight titles.

However, the exuberant celebrations of Haaland’s header 16 minutes from time demonstrated that securing three points was all that mattered for the visitors to temporarily halt their remarkable slump.

With their victory, City rises to fifth place; however, they remain 11 points behind the leaders Liverpool, who also have two games in hand.

Leicester’s loss keeps them entrenched in the bottom three.

Guardiola made only a single alteration to the lineup from the 1-1 draw against Everton on Boxing Day, with Kevin De Bruyne coming in for his fellow Belgian international Jeremy Doku.

De Bruyne’s ongoing fitness issues have contributed to City’s decline, and he quickly demonstrated what Guardiola’s team has been lacking for the majority of the season.

Rico Lewis found De Bruyne, who gently directed a cross towards Haaland. However, Haaland’s low shot was expertly saved by Leicester’s substitute goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.

Leicester, having started strong under Ruud van Nistelrooy’s leadership, have now suffered defeats in their last four games.

The Foxes regretted missing opportunities to increase the struggles of a City side that continued to show obvious signs of low confidence.

Whenever the home team ventured into City’s half during the first half, they seemed to pose a significant threat.

Jamie Vardy likely would have earned a penalty if he hadn’t been offside before Stefan Ortega tackled him. Meanwhile, James Justin’s header struck the post after a chaotic scene in front of the goal.

However, City managed to score the crucial opening goal in the 21st minute.

Stolarczyk could have handled Phil Foden’s long-range shot more effectively instead of deflecting it towards Savinho, who capitalized on the opportunity by sending the rebound into the top of the net for his first goal with City.

Opportunities for Leicester appeared and disappeared frequently during the early part of the second half.

Justin nearly scored, but his inaccurate shot from close range gave Manuel Akanji the opportunity to clear it off the line.

Vardy had his best opportunity to equalize when he nudged Stephy Mavididi’s superb in-swinging cross over the bar.

However, they suffered a setback when City delivered an unexpected blow to conclude the defending champions’ disappointing away streak.

This time, Savinho was the architect as his precise cross found Haaland, who confidently scored his 19th goal of the season, breaking a four-game scoreless streak.