Pep Guardiola was in for a shock this weekend as his Manchester City side were handed a 4-2 thrashing by current Premier League champions Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes have struggled to keep their form of the last season this time around, but they were in no forgiving mood against the Citizens as they put the away team’s defence to swords with two goals from Jamie Vardy and Andy King in the first five minutes of the game.
Claudio Ranieri’s men never let City take control with their incessant pressing and created a plenty of opportunities to increase their lead. And soon they were 3-0 up, with Vardy rounding Bravo and hitting the ball into an empty net with just 20 minutes into the game.
Things did improve for Guardiola’s men in the second half and they were knocking at the Leicester door, with Kevin De Bruyne at the centre of everything. However, it was Vardy who scored again, capitalising on John Stones’ mistake to seal the result beyond doubt. The Citizens, however, managed to pull two goals back through Aleksandar Kolarov and Nolito, but it was too little too late.
City lost their second consecutive game, after having tasted a 1-3 defeat against Chelsea last weekend. Let’s see how each player fared on the evening:
Claudio Bravo – 5
Poor. A horde of questionable decisions made by the Chilean. Could have done better with all the three first half goals. City fans will be left wondering why Guardiola replaced Hart for Bravo.
Pablo Zabaleta – 6
Was one of the positives for City on the evening. Spent most of the time in Leicester half and was a constant attacking outlet on the right-flank. Came very close to open the scoring for City with a curled effort.
Bacary Sagna – 5
Was played at centre-half and struggled to tie down the Leicester forwards Slimani and Vardy. Another questionable decision by Pep playing him at the heart of the defence as he was outmuscled by Slimani on many an occasion.
John Stones – 5
Invited too much pressure by choosing to play the ball out and holding the ball at his feet for longer than needed. Made a few decent tackles in the first half, but his poor back-pass set up Vardy for his hat-trick.
Aleksandar Kolarov – 6
Suspect defensively, like his teammates. Made a lot of poor passes and bad decisions. But went forward with plenty of vigour on the left-flank. His final ball did lack at times, but he did score City’s first with a well-taken free kick and then set up the Citizens’ second goal.
Fernando – 5
Played in front of City’s defence to offer a shield to them, the Brazilian was, more often than not, taken out of the picture with Leicester’s accurate long balls. Booked.
Jesus Navas – 5
Ineffective. That has become the norm for the Spaniard though. Saw plenty of the ball out wide, but as always, the end product was nowhere near the desired quality. Was rightly subbed off near the hour mark.
Kevin De Bruyne – 6
City’s biggest threat on the evening. Always tried to make something happen, making runs, drifting out wide and sending in crosses. Came close a couple of times but failed to test Zieler in the Leicester goal. Plenty of endeavours, but no results for the Belgian.
Ilkay Gundogan – 5
Another player who was largely ineffective on the evening. Struggled to get City forward and provided little defensively. Absolutely no impact. Was hauled off in the 68th minute.
David Silva – 5
Struggled to have any kind of influence on the game. Floated between Leicester’s lines but could not produce any openings. A quiet night for the Spaniard.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 5
Lacked service despite City dominating possession. Wes Morgan and Robert Huth were all over the young Nigerian. Was subbed off in the 58th minute.
Substitutes
Yaya Toure – 5
Introduced in the game in the place of Iheanacho. Did not change much for City going forward.
Raheem Sterling – 5
Was a better outlet than Navas, who he replaced in the second-half. But wasn’t good enough as he struggled to go past the Foxes’ full-backs.
Nolito – 6
Came on for Gundogan with 20 minutes left to play. Did well to grab the second goal for Guardiola’s team in the dying moments of the game.