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birthday with the kind of goal that the soon-to-depart Sergio Aguero used to score with his eyes closed.
Guardiola said: “Mendy is Mendy. He is loved by everyone who knows him because he is a special person.
“We all know how he lives. But when a person is honest like him we can only love him so much.
“He must be really good if he can score a goal with his right foot like that!”
City are now 14 points clear at the top – and reclaiming the title is now a formality. With a Champions League quarter-final coming up on Tuesday night, Guardiola had a bench that included Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Joao Cancelo.
But with Kevin De Bruyne in sparkling form and Fernandinho alongside him in ruthless mood, they still had too much for a Leicester side with ambitions of finishing in second place.
“Kevin is pretty good, eh?” said Guardiola. “Kevin is extraordinary with his passes, but now he has to score.
“I am sure that in the next game he will score. But it is also the way he runs to recover the ball that gives us our identity.”
There was also a rare start for Aguero, the club’s record goalscorer who confirmed in the week that he will leave City when his contract runs out at the end of the season.
On this evidence, it looks like the right decision.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said: “If you gave me £500million to spend then don’t think we’d be far away.
“In my opinion, Pep Guardiola is the best in the world but he does have world-class players.”
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