Manchester City held as spirited Leicester make a point
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri, Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini, and Arsene Wenger of Arsenal all had reasons to be cheerful after an engaging stalemate at the King Power Stadium.
For Ranieri, it was proof that his side’s spirit remains unbroken despite their long unbeaten record being ended by Liverpool three days earlier, and the knowledge they had moved level on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
For Pellegrini, it was signs of his side’s attacking confidence returning away from home as they dominated large patches but ran into stout Leicester resistance.
And for Wenger, it was the sight of the Gunners’ two closest rivals at the top taking points off each other to strengthen his team’s title challenge.
City remain without a victory in six Premier League games on the road but they had Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to thank for frustrating them last night during a dominant first-half display.
Leicester, meanwhile, signalled their own desire to maintain their surprise push by weathering a first-half storm and growing in confidence after half-time, drawing a couple of smart saves from Joe Hart in the visitors’ goal.
“A draw was a pretty fair result,” said Schmeichel. “We both had chances and we’re slightly disappointed.”
City’s Raheem Sterling said: “We played really well at times. For the majority of the game we controlled the game and had a couple of chances to score but they’re a good team and kept us out and that’s what the league is about.
“We were consistent throughout the game. The only thing that was missing was the final cutting edge. Our away form hasn’t been great over the last few games and the most important thing was coming here, keeping a clean sheet and defending well.”
After largely retaining consistency in selection throughout the season, Ranieri finally offered a nod to his ‘tinkerman’ reputation by adopting a new system designed to counteract Pellegrini’s men.
Gone was the 4-4-2 setup that had served him well and in came Gokhan Inler, the Switzerland captain, as an extra midfielder.
Shinji Okazaki was the forward to miss out while Danny Drinkwater returned in midfield, following a hamstring injury, at the expense of Andy King.
Pellegrini made just one change from the side that beat Sunderland 4-1 but it was a significant one as Sergio Aguero returned up front in place of Wilfried Bony.
The visitors made the more accomplished start and Inler needed to be alert early on to cut out a potentially dangerous cross from Raheem Sterling.
Then the away side did well to free Aleksander Kolarov on the overlap but he screwed a cross horribly high and into the stand.
Leicester finally relieved the pressure when Inler won a free-kick 25 yards from the visitors’ goal, but Christian Fuchs’ delicate set-piece was headed well over by defender Robert Huth.
Pellegrini’s side kept coming and the hosts needed goalkeeper Schmeichel to be on his mettle when Sterling skipped down the right and squared for Kevin De Bruyne.
The Belgian connected well with a shot from the edge the area but it was beaten away by Schmeichel.
Then Aguero ended another wave of Manchester City attacking with a shot that looped off a defender and came through to Schmeichel.
Leicester counter-attacks had been few and far between but Riyad Mahrez created an opportunity when he stole possession out wide, cut inside, and curled a shot just over the crossbar.
However, Manchester City had the initiative and Sterling was denied by another smart Schmeichel save after cutting in from the right and finding space.
It was the same result on 32 minutes when the Danish keeper pushed a left-footed attempt by Sterling over the bar.
Schmeichel’s evening got even busier when he had to race off his line to collect from Bacary Sagna’s feet after the full-back burst clear of the Leicester defence.
Having survived City’s relentless pressure for 40 minutes, Leicester had two glorious chances to steal the lead as they gained some momentum late in the first half.
First Marc Albrighton was inches away from turning in a Fuchs cross at the far post.
Then Jamie Vardy was gifted the ball by Fernandinho 20 yards out but blasted his shot over, having exchanging passes with Drinkwater.
Aguero should have given the visitors the lead a minute into the second half when he arrived at the near post to meet a cross by De Bruyne after Leicester had lost possession cheaply.
The Argentine tried to beat Schmeichel with a cheeky chip but his effort looped up over the crossbar.
Mahrez and Vardy combined in the 52nd minute with the Algerian crossing from the right for the England forward, but he sent a header over the crossbar.
Then N’Golo Kante’s long-range shot flew a fraction wide after he exchanged passes neatly with Vardy and drove at the heart of the Manchester City defence. That was the surest sign that Leicester were growing in confidence and Mahrez created another opening with a fine pass but Marc Albrighton drove into the side netting from a difficult angle.
But the visitors still packed a punch and Schmeichel had to extend himself again to push away a header by Nicolas Otamendi from a De Bruyne corner.
With a head of steam built up, Leicester sent on Leonardo Ulloa for Inler as they went on the attack.
It almost paid off instantly as Ulloa’s decoy run allowed Vardy to collect Drinkwater’s pass, but he shot straight at Joe Hart in the Manchester City goal.
Late on, Hart had to make a good, flying save to keep out a thunderous shot from Fuchs following a short corner by the Foxes.
Schmeichel 8; Simpson 5, Morgan 7, Huth 6, Fuchs 5; Drinkwater 6 (King, 80), Inler 5 (Ulloa, 67, 6), Kante 6; Mahrez 7, Vardy 6, Albrighton 6 (De Laet, 90).
Okazaki, Dyer, Wasilewski, Schwarzer.
Hart 6; Sagna 7, Mangala 6, Otamendi 6, Kolarov 7; Toure 7, Fernandinho 6; De Bruyne 7, Silva 8 (Navas, 74, 6), Sterling 8 (Iheanacho, 89); Aguero 8 (Bony, 64, 6).
Zabaleta, Caballero, Demichelis, Horsfield.
C Pawson
32,072
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
