Patient City keep Foxes out before taking win
Blues show their ruthless streak in title pursuit
CITY had seen this before.
Having dominated possession but failed to score, Fernandinho was caught on the ball, the centre-back was sucked across the box and Youri Tielemans had a clear shot at goal in the box.
Or so he though. Instead, Ruben Dias came flying across to block the shot and divert it for a corner. Danger averted, and soon after Pep Guardiola’s side had the first of their two goals in a 2-0 win that moves them closer to the Premier League title.
It is too easy to say that the former Benfica defender is the only reason behind the team’s transformation this season, but at the same time his influence is difficult to overstate and gives them renewed hope that the key moments in the Champions League that have always gone against them may finally be in their favour.
Rodri, Benjamin Mendy and Dias all helped City claim a thoroughly convincing win that sets them up perfectly for the arrival of Dortmund on Tuesday.
Last season City faced a difficult trip to Leicester ahead of their Champions League monster of a clash against Real Madrid. The Blues showed they could overcome their defensive deficiencies and grind out a win against a tough opponent, something they repeated days later at the Bernabeu. A year on and the stakes are higher: the Foxes are better and had the added benefit of a 5-2 thrashing in the reverse fixture, with Dias hoping to keep regular terror Jamie Vardy and in-form old boy Kelechi Iheanacho at bay ahead of a duel with Erling Haaland & Co.
Dias was one of only four changes to Saturday’s XI from that shellacking earlier in the campaign, but on top of his transforming effect on the defence the fact that Laporte, Aguero and birthday boy Gabriel Jesus were the other incoming faces indicates the quality missing back in September; Dias and Laporte is quite the upgrade on Nathan Ake and Eric Garcia, even before you account for the improvement in form.
There was room for both pragmatism and sentiment in Guardiola’s selection. The line-up was packed full with the players that had clocked up the fewest air miles over the international break Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy and Fernandinho among the starters while the frequent fliers Aleks Zinchenko and Zack Steffen were left out of the squad. Including Sergio Aguero days after the announcement that he will be leaving the club in summer ticked all of the boxes though. The Argentine was given the opportunity to show his manager that he can still contribute to the team
City claim a thoroughly convincing win that sets them up perfectly for the arrival of Dortmund
this season and to show potential suitors that he can still cut it at the top of the Premier League, with the safeguard that Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva could be 100 per cent ready to step in for the Champions League in a few days.
Unfortunately for Aguero, his biggest intervention in the first half caused a City goal to be chalked off. Fernandinho rattled in a 30-yarder in the opening five minutes but the celebrations were cut short when it became apparent that Kasper Schmeichel had been obstructed by City’s No.10 in an offside position.
Aguero then lashed a left-footed effort over before Kevin De Bruyne rattled the woodwork from a free-kick that looked dubiously won.
The visitors were dominating possession and when the Leicester benches applauded the players on the half-hour mark for breaking the City press it felt like
a brief moment of respite for them. Schmeichel was rarely busy though. Riyad Mahrez finally tested him minutes before the break but was thwarted from close range when he should have done better, then Jesus blasted over on his weaker foot. As half-time approached, the City backline may have been perfectly in sync but the sight of Vardy rounding Ederson and slotting home from an offside position was enough warning of how quickly all of the team’s good work could be undone.
The Foxes returned with more zip and Dias needed to be at his most alert to deflect an Ayoze Perez effort wide after Fernandinho had been dispossessed in dangerous territory. If you are searching for changes since the 5-2 defeat in September, the club’s record signing takes some looking past.
Buoyed by not conceding, City were rewarded for their patience just as Guardiola was preparing to change things.
Raheem Sterling was preparing to be the first change when De Bruyne and Mahrez exchanged passes and the Algerian forced another save from Schmeichel, this time on his weaker foot. There was no panic as the ball pinged away from the box and the excellent Rodri swung in an inviting cross for Jesus. It didn’t quite get to the striker but did fall to Mendy, who took a touch and swept the ball in with his right foot - a finish that any centre-forward would be proud of.
That goal tipped the scales from frustrating to masterclass on the City spectrum, and it swung all the way with 15 minutes to go.
De Bruyne showed wonderful vision to slip Jesus through and a one-two with Sterling allowed the Brazilan to tap home and make the game safe. Another tricky hurdle seamlessly glided over as the Blues notched up a ninth successive away win in the league and a 15th in all competitions.
While other English sides fluffed their lines ahead of the Champions League quarter-finals, the champions-elect showed why they have been unrivalled this season.
City could afford to lose this game in their pursuit of the Premier League title (and some Blues would not have minded seeing United drop to third), and Guardiola had aired concerns that boxing off the league early may not help them remain competitive in other competitions.
This team would not have won 25 of their last 26 if they were not steel-eyed killers though, and another ruthless display moves them to within 10 points of the title with seven games to play.
More importantly in the short term, it sees them sidestep the potential disruption of the international break and head into their quarter-final with Dortmund full of confidence.
Dias is a cornerstone of the belief that City just may be able to pull off the unstoppable this season.