Manchester City 3-1 Leicester City: Guardiola gains ground on Foxes

Manchester City keep their faint title hopes alive with a 3-1 victory over second placed Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City cut the gap on second-placed Leicester City to just a single point with a 3-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Jamie Vardy’s cool finish gave the visitors the lead in the first half as Manchester City fell behind for the fourth successive home game.

However, there proved to be no repeat of their defeat to Manchester United on their last home league outing, as goals from Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan put the defending champions ahead at the break.

Gabriel Jesus’ second half tap in wrapped up the three points for his side whose performance showed that they will not give up their title without a fight.

• Story of the game

With Liverpool’s game against West Ham United postponed due to their involvement in the Club World Cup, the visitors knew that a victory would move them to within seven points of the runaway leaders ahead of their clash on Boxing Day.

Manchester City meanwhile were looking to keep their faint title hopes alive in the knowledge that defeat would leave them seven points adrift of their opponents and 13 behind Liverpool.

Despite a strong start for the hosts, it was Leicester who took the lead in the 21st-minute courtesy of the leagues inform striker, Jamie Vardy.

Harvey Barnes’ exquisite outside of the foot pass put Vardy in behind, with the Englishman using his trademark pace to leave Fernandinho in his wake before delicately lifting the ball over the onrushing Ederson.

The lead didn’t last for long though as Manchester City found themselves level on the half-hour mark through the highly influential Mahrez.

The former Leicester City favourite cut inside past Ben Chilwell and fired a low effort goalbound which took a huge deflection off Caglar Soyuncu, leaving Kasper Schmeichel helpless.

The equaliser was nothing less than the hosts deserved and they continued to dominate possession, with Soyuncu the first name in Mike Dean‘s book after a late challenge on Kevin De Bruyne.

With halftime fast approaching Manchester City took the lead via the penalty spot after the uncharacteristically quiet Raheem Sterling was adjudged to have been brought down by Ricardo Pereira.

With first-choice penalty taker Sergio Aguero on the bench after recovering from a thigh problem, Gundogan stepped up and made no mistake. His penalty finding the bottom right corner despite a touch Schmeichel.

Despite being merely a spectator for the majority of the first half, Ederson had to be alert to stop the visitors from equalising on the stroke of halftime. James Maddison’s tame effort from the edge of the box taking a nick off Vardy but Ederson was quick to react getting down to his left to turn the ball behind.

The second half began as the first had finished, with Manchester City dictating the pace of the game, with Leicester happy to sit back and play on the counter-attack.

The Citizens could have - and probably should have - extended their lead just shy of the hour mark. A deflection fell kindly into the path of De Bruyne inside the penalty area, however the Belgian was seemingly caught in two minds whether to shoot or square the ball to Jesus, opting for the latter but undercooking the pass with Leicester able to scramble the ball clear.

They were almost made to pay for their sloppiness just moments later as Vardy got away down the right-hand side and delivered an inch-perfect ball across the face of the box however with the goal at his mercy, Barnes turned the ball wide.

Whilst his earlier pass to Jesus may have struggled to find the target, De Bruyne made no mistake second time around.

His burst of pace saw the Belgian fly past Soyuncu, advancing to the byline before putting the ball on a plate for the unmarked Jesus, who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the open goal.

With the clock ticking down there was still opportunities for Mahrez and De Bruyne to test Schmeichel with efforts from distance, however the Danish number one on hand to turn both behind as Manchester City continued their busy festive period with another three points.

• Takeaways from the game

Kevin De Bruyne is the league's best midfielder

Coming into the game on the back of a Man of the Match performance in the 3-0 victory at Arsenal last time out, Kevin De Bruyne once again proved why he is the leagues best midfielder.

His incredible range of passing and ability to dictate the tempo of the game created plenty of chances for the hosts, his assist for Jesus killed off the game.

Jamie Vardy on course for the Golden Boot.

Whilst he may have been on the losing side on this occasion, Jamie Vardy is well on course to collect the Golden Boot this season.

His first-half effort, his 17th of the season, leaves him six clear of his nearest challenger, with his goals sure to play a big part in any Leicester success for the remainder of the season.

Mahrez haunts former employers

He may have only scored the one today, but Riyad Mahrez showed glimpses that he may well be returning to his best in the 3-1 victory.

His direct running caused all sorts of problems for Chilwell, particularly in the first half and on another day, he could’ve had a hat-trick.