Goalfest! Man City Edge Nine-Goal Thriller To Remain Top
27 December, 2021
Manchester City cemented top spot in the Premier League defeating Leicester City in nine-goal thriller on Boxing Day at the Etihad.
Premier League
Result: Manchester City 6-3 Leicester City
Date 26 December 2021
Venue: Etihad
The hosts got off to a superb start as Kevin de Bruyne got the opening goal on five minutes with a neat finish into the far corner after the Foxes failed to clear their lines.
City were then awarded a penalty seven minutes later after VAR spotted Youri Tielemans' foul on Aymeric Laporte, which allowed former Leicester star Riyah Marhez to cover the spot-kick.
It was one-way traffic in the first half as the third goal arrived in the 21 minutes when Kasper Schmeichel could only parry Joao Cancelo's cross into the path of Ilkay Gundogan.
Three minutes later, City were awarded their second penalty of the game as Tielemans gave away another spot-kick by bringing down Raheem Sterling, who stepped up and dispatched from 12 yards.
After a disappointing first half, Leicester pulled a goal back 10 minutes into the second half as James Maddison rounded Ederson to slot into an empty after an impressive counter-attack.
Brendan Rodgers' men reduced the deficit once again three minutes later as former Man City striker Kelechi Iheanacho played in Ademola Lookman, who fired into the bottom corner.
The Etihad was then stunned into silence as Leicester got their third goal on 65 minutes when Inheanacho reacted quickest to Ederson parrying Maddison's shot and slammed into the back of the net.
However, Ruben Dias calmed the nerves with 20 minutes to go after restoring City's two-goal lead with a towering header from a corner.
Any hopes of a Leicester comeback were dashed in the 87th minute when Sterling bagged his second and City's sixth with a close-range finish after some good work by Ruben Dias.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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