Erling Haaland scored a first-half brace to send Man City on their way to a comfortable 3-1 win over Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City knew what they had to do, win at home against Leicester and keep their sights firmly on Arsenal in this intriguing title race.
How it happened
City boss, Pep Guardiola made a few changes to the side that demolished Bayern in mid-week. Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez were all back in the side.
Leicester, led by interim manager Den Smith set up with a very defensive 5-3-2 system, looking to stifle City's attacking prowess.
Safe to say it failed to work as Guardiola's men found spaces in the pockets at will with the Foxes looking rattled in the opening minutes.
City broke the deadlock inside five minutes. A Riyad Mahrez corner kick was headed clear to the edge of the box and John Stones lashed the loose ball into the back of the net.
Haaland brace
One soon became two less than 10 minutes later after Wilfred Ndidi was penalised for a handball in the box, following a VAR review. Erling Haaland stepped up to slot the ball into the bottom corner.
City were in complete control as Leicester failed to make an impact in the first half, and the Norwegian striker then bagged his 32nd PL goal of the season, clipping the ball past Daniel Iversen after being slipped through by Kevin De Bruyne.
Haaland’s second goal of the evening saw him match Mohamed Salah’s record of scoring 32 goals in a 38-game Premier League season,
Pep Guardiola made a host of substitutions early in the second half, maybe with one eye on the 2nd leg coming up against Bayern Munich, but the home side continued to dominate Leicester with ease.
A goal in the final quarter-hour proved to be nothing but a consolation from ex-City striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
The Nigerian almost added a second in stoppage time but was denied by the post as Manchester City ultimately strolled to victory.
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