SAN FRANCISCO, December 27, (THEWILL) – Manchester City have stumbled to their second successive defeat, losing on the road to Leicester City 1-2.
The loss made the Pep Guardiola boys slip to the third position, now overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur, who beat AFC Bournemouth 5-0 at Wembley.
City who are the defending champions also lost 2-3 to Crystal Palace before the Christmas break at the Etihad Stadium. With 44 points in 19 games, they are now seven points behind leaders Liverpool who spanked Newcastle 4-0 at Anfield, and one point behind Spurs, with 45 points. Liverpool have 51 points.
Manchester City, smarting from the shock Crystal Palace loss, were in front after 14 minutes when Bernardo Silva finished with his left foot after being played through by Sergio Aguero.
But four minutes later Leicester City were on level terms after Marc Albrighton met Jamie Vardy’s cross with his head from close range.
Leicester City’s defence held tight in spite of an onslaught from Manchester City, with Fabian Delph and Aguero both missing good scoring chances.
Pep Guardiola’s team were made to pay for those lost opportunities as Ricardo unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top left corner beyond Ederson less than 10 minutes from time.
Things went from bad to worse for Manchester City as Delph was shown a straight red card for following through in a challenge on Ricardo.
It capped a miserable afternoon for Pep Guardiola’s team who slipped to third in the table.
“It was a similar performance to the Crystal Palace game. We started well but conceded a goal the first time they arrived in our box. Mentally we are lacking confidence in that situation,” Guardiola said.
“We have to accept it, we have to realise that we have to work harder and try to get immediately one good result and get our confidence back.
“Of course, we are worried (about not keeping clean sheets). The result is what counts, we lost.”
Leicester City manager Claude Puel was facing questions about his future at the club before Saturday’s win over Chelsea.
“A good Boxing Day! We know when you play Chelsea and Manchester City, it’s difficult to have the ball. But you must have this mentality to defend together and try to use good recovery and fast passes to break,” he said.
“We deserved this result. We had more chances than them. We changed the system to get a better balance in the team and it is a fantastic result for this team.
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