SILVA’S THE MAIN MAN
MAN CITY ........... 2 LEICESTER ...........0 Spain relief for Pelle
DAVID SILVA produced a golden touch to lift the growing gloom at the Etihad.
The Spanish maestro broke the stalemate on the stroke of half-time to fire Manchester City ahead with his third goal in four games.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the champions who struggled to find their sparkle and could count themselves fortunate to be ahead.
And they needed an 88th-minute strike from sub James Milner to settle their nerves after Riyad Mahrez had hit the post for Leicester.
Nigel Pearson’s Foxes were denied a clear penalty but at least Wilfried Bony did them a favour by missing a host of chances on his first start since his £28m move from Swansea.
Under-fire City boss Manuel Pellegrini dropped a bombshell before kick-off when he axed captain Vincent Kompany and left him on the bench.
But the visit of the rock-bottom Foxes appeared to be just what Pellegrini needed considering his side came into this game with just two wins from the previous nine outings.
He also dropped Pablo Zabaleta and Edin Dzeko to the bench while playmaker Samir Nasri wasn’t even in the squad.
The Foxes, who had never lost here in the Premier League, should have had the chance to go ahead midway through the first half but were denied an obvious penalty by referee Robert Madley.
Bony felled Jeff Schlupp with a clumsy challenge that saw his arm go across the Ghanaian’s face but somehow Madley ignored the appeals from the Foxes to leave Pearson seething.
Seconds later Joe Hart was forced to save at the feet of Andrej Kramaric as Leicester began to find some confidence and ambition.
But it still took a fine double save from Mark Schwarzer to deny Bony and then Jesus Navas to keep the scores level.
Bony missed another golden chance just before the interval when Silva’s sublime pass found him clean through on goal, the Ivorian firing over as home frustrations grew.
But his wastefulness was forgotten in first-half stoppage time when Silva showed him how to finish, beating Schwarzer from close range after Wes Morgan had half-blocked his initial effort from Aleksandar Kolarov’s cross.
The goal was greeted with more relief than anything else but an equaliser almost came on 50 minutes when Kramaric saw his impressive freekick deflect inches wide of Hart’s right post.
Schwarzer produced another fine stop to keep out Sergio Aguero’s header and an even better one to deny Yaya Toure before Milner fired home a six-yard half-volley from a Navas cross. MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Hart; Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov; Toure, Fernando; Navas, Bony, Silva; Aguero. Subs: Caballero, Kompany, Zabaleta, Clichy, Milner, Lampard, Dzeko. LEICESTER (3-4-2-1): Schwarzer; Morgan, Huth, Upson; Simpson, Cambiasso, James, Konchesky; Mahrez, Kramaric; Schlupp. Subs: Drinkwater, Vardy, King, Hamer, Ulloa, Wasilewski, Nugent. Referee: Robert Madley.