The first real test for Manchester City came and went successfully. Pep Guardiola’s team faced its first game without the goal scoring machine Erling Haaland and the Citizens defeated the Foxes thanks to a good old captain Kevin De Bruyne and his trademark free kick winner: Leicester – Manchester City 0-1. The Norwegian scored 22 goals in 15 games for City this term, but got injured against Borussia in mid-week and didn’t feature in this game. No problem for a serial winner like Guardiola, who won the title last season without a recognized striker. The Spaniard made seven changes in the starting 11 but still won and sat at top of the Premier League table at least before Arsenal plays its game.Everyone watching that Kevin De Bruyne stunner 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XLtc3m0mcI— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 29, 2022 Leicester came out from the string of loses and are looking a bit like a team from a few seasons ago, but the Foxes and Brendan Rodgers certainly didn’t think about attacking the guests. The home team chose to defend with five at the back while Guardiola stuck with his 4-3-3 formation, changing no less than 7 players in the starting 11. Alvarez started instead of injured Erling Haaland and the Argentinian had only four starts in all competitions this season prior to this match, scoring three times in 14 appearances. City totally dominated in the first half with almost 70% possession and 10 shots on goal (4 on target) but keeper Ward had a few good saves and the back five frustrated the Citizens.But just as the second half started, the excitement went to the roof. Kevin De Bruyne took a free kick and it was another of his beautiful shots which went right into the top corner and the ball went in off the inside of post and bar: 1-0. The hosts responded with an equally beautiful shot of their own, but Ederson managed to tip the ball after a Tielemans shot just enough to hit the bar. Then City took the ball away from the Foxes and decreased their chances of scoring an equalizer. Leicester had two half-chances from Iheanacho, but both times his shots were not so strong for Ederson and in fact, the most serious chance for the hosts came during injury time, when Stones tried to clear the ball but hit Ruben Dias instead and he almost scored an own goal.PREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 14SaturdayLeicester – Man.City 0-1 (0-0)/De Bruyne 49/17:00: (5.70) Bournemouth (3.80) Tottenham (1.70)17:00: (2.25) Brentford (3.35) Wolverhampton (3.50)17:00: (2.90) Brighton (3.25) Chelsea (2.50)17:00: (2.00) Crystal Palace (3.50) Southampton (4.10)17:00: (1.94) Newcastle (3.60) Aston Villa (4.50)19:30: (2.45) Fulham (3.35) Everton (3.20)21:45: (1.36) Liverpool (5.90) Leeds (9.50)Sunday16:00: (1.24) Arsenal (6.75) Nott.Forest (14.0)18:15: (1.70) Man.Utd. (3.70) West Ham (5.20)***odds are subject to change***
