It’s all good, City are still in the mix for the title race. Pep Guardiola’s motivational talk ahead of the match (‘If we lose the game we will not be champions’) worked, as the Citizens played one of the most uncertain games of the season and defeated lowly Leicester 3-1. As the season nears its end, the Spanish tactician has put all pieces of the puzzle together. His team is playing excellent, they are on a roll with nine consecutive wins in all competition, and tonight they made it to number ten with an easy win against the Foxes. Leicester’s Dean Smith, taking over from sacked Brendan Rodgers until the end of the season had only one option against Citizens: to play it deep defensively and hope for a counter. And the plan worked until the fifth minute of the game, when defender John Stones scored a screamer from 22 meters. In Guardiola’s tactical experiments this season, Stones ended up as a midfielder and when that was the case, City have conceded twice and scored 25 goals in six games. But today he was shifted back to defense and scored the opening goal, leaving the other two for Erling Haaland. The Norwegian first scored from the penalty spot before adding another after De Bruyne’s 100th assist in the Premier League. With this brace, Haaland is currently at the number of 32 in the Premier League and 47 in all competitions. Unreal.The main goals for Pep Guardiola after a 3-0 lead were: no injuries, no cards. So, the Spaniard changed Haaland and Stones at half-time, while Rodri and De Bruyne came little later so the Spaniard got all his players rested for the second match with Bayern in the Champions League. Totally opposite to his counterpart Thomas Tuchel, who suspended Sadio Mane and played with his strongest squad and still failed to win against struggling Hoffenheim. Leicester finally showed some form of life after Guardiola made all those changes, and Iheanacho scored one and missed one for the guests. Ederson made a fantastic save after Maddison’s attempt and if any of those shots turned into goals, this game could have been much more interesting. PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 31SaturdayAston Villa – Newcastle United 3-0 (1-0)/Ramsey 11, Watkins 64, 83/Southampton – Crystal Palace 0-2 (0-0)/Eze 54, 68/Chelsea – Brighton 1-2 (1-1)/Gallagher 13 – Welbeck 42, Enciso 69Everton – Fulham 1-3 (1-1)/McNeil 35 – Reed 22, Wilson 51, James 68/Tottenham – Bournemouth 2-3 (1-1)/Son 14, Danjuma 88 – Vina 38, Solanke 51, Outtara 90+5/Wolverhampton – Brentford 2-0 (1-0)/Costa 27, Hwang 69/Man.City – Leicester 3-1 (3-0)/Stones 5, Haaland 13(p), 25 – Iheanacho 75/Sunday16.00: (6.25) West Ham (4.10) Arsenal (1.63)18.30: (4.90) Nott.Forest (3.60) Man.Utd. (1.79)Monday21:00: (4.70) Leeds (3.75) Liverpool (1.79)***odds are subject to change
