Manchester City secured a 1-0 win away at Leicester City on Saturday, with the victory ensuring their winning run extended to three Premier League games.
While the win may not have been as emphatic as their previous two league outings, after Pep Guardiola’s men beat both Norwich City and Arsenal 5-0, City went home with all three points and proved they don’t have to be playing at their best to get the job done.
In the latest City is Ours Facebook Live stream, City Fan Brands writer Alex Brotherton was joined by Ross Jackson, with the pair taking time to reflect on the win.
RJ – “It’s the sort of game where if you come away with three points from Leicester away you don’t really worry too much about how you played.
“Leicester are one of City’s bogey teams, so if you said to Guardiola you can take four points from your two games against Leicester this season and you don’t have to worry about how you played, I think he’d snap your hand off.
“City did play well, don’t get me wrong, but they could have quite easily lost that game by even two or three with the amount of chances that Leicester had.
“That’s one of those games where if you come away with three points or even a point away from home against one of the sides they’ve struggled against in recent years, you push aside the performance in a way.
“They’ve already had some very good performances this season so they clearly are clicking and playing well together. You just take the three points and move on.”
(Image: Matt McNulty – Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
AB – “Yes, City have had massive problems against Leicester’s counter-attacking in the past, but then on Saturday obviously they didn’t concede.
“When they’ve played in the past you’ve got to think of the 5-2 defeat at the beginning of last season. Now, a lot of Leicester’s five goals came from City making errors in the middle of the pitch which led to a counter-attack and they were punished.”
Jackson added that City’s previous defeats to Leicester may have influenced their mindset slightly on Saturday, with the defence desperate not to leave too much space in behind for Jamie Vardy and subsequently not pushing forward as much as they would have liked.
RJ – “I think there was almost a bit of caution in the City side. I mean it’s only natural, a lot of those players that were playing on Saturday were playing the last time they got thumped by Leicester 5-2 just over a year ago.
Fan Brands – Man City
You may notice this piece of writing has been produced by a name you’re not familiar with on our regular Manchester City content.
That is because we are expanding our horizons and starting to bring even more to you from a whole host of different voices. We have appointed a whole host of people who – like our journalists – care deeply about what’s happening at Etihad Stadium – but sit in the stands rather than the press box.
We want to give you raw, authentic fan voices about the big issues at Man City – which is why the story you have read today might sit on Manchester Evening News for now, and is part of the MEN family, but is not representative of those who work there full time.
Keep your eyes peeled for more info on where you can read more from this author in the future. But in the meantime, we hope you enjoy what they have written.
“They’re only human at the end of the day and they are going to have that in the back of their minds and they are going to be thinking ‘I can’t leave a lot of space behind for Vardy’ and they’re going to be worried about it.”
Despite the close contest at the King Power Stadium, Saturday’s result compared to the first league fixture against Leicester last season shows City have learned from their 5-2 defeat, and Guardiola’s men will look to build on their recent run of good form in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with RB Leipzig.
What did you think of City’s performance against Leicester? Follow our new City Fan Brands Writers Ross Jackson and Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
