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Post by Football News on May 13, 2017 15:39:50 GMT
Man City 2 - 1 LeicesterManchester City hold off Leicester after Riyad Mahrez double-hit penalty Home team scorersDavid Silva 29 Fernando Gabriel Jesus 36 pen Away team scorersShinji Okazaki 42 Manchester City’s pursuit of a top-four finish remains intact with two matches remaining after they hung on desperately for a scrappy win. As is often the case with this Pep Guardiola side they coasted then lost their thread, and have a Riyad Mahrez slip to thank for taking all three points and moving into third place. Mahrez was brought down by Gaël Clichy for the 77th-minute spot-kick but careered over while addressing the ball, kicking it on to his standing leg and – in doing so – technically taking two touches. Robert Madley, the referee, correctly ruled out the finish past Willy Caballero, giving the home team a free-kick. “It is not normal to see it but it is what it is,” said Guardiola. If City beat West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night here then they are guaranteed a Champions League berth. The manager pointed to this when defending his side’s drop in quality. “The second half we didn’t know whether to attack or defend,” he said. “You have to understand how important it is for the club, fans, the players .”
In the first half Madley did award City a goal after David Silva’s shot went past Kasper Schmeichel as Raheem Sterling stuck out a leg. The forward may have made contact and been marginally offside, standing ahead of Christian Fuchs. Schmeichel led the complaints to the referee, who allowed Silva’s effort to stand.
Craig Shakespeare, Leicester City’s manager, said: “Having seen the replay, I can see he is in an offside position.”
This was 29 minutes in and two more goals followed before the break. First City doubled their lead as Leroy Sané and Silva cut through the visitors’ defence before Yohan Benalouane scythed the young German down. Madley pointed to the spot and Gabriel Jesus duly converted.
It appeared the contest was over but Shakespeare’s men went in having pulled one back. Mahrez swept the ball left to Marc Albrighton, whose cross to Shinji Okazaki was volleyed instantly beyond Caballero.
Guardiola made no changes from the 5-0 rout of Crystal Palace here in last Saturday’s early kick-off, while Shakespeare swapped Andy King for Danny Drinkwater and Ben Chilwell for Robert Huth from the 3-0 win against Watford later that day.
Guardiola had said Leicester would again hope to hit City on the counter, as they did when beating them in December’s reverse fixture. An illustration came when Schmeichel pinged a quick clearance to Jamie Vardy and Clichy was forced to foul or the centre-forward would have been clear on Caballero.
Aside from their goal and a missed header from Wilfred Ndidi this was about it for Leicester until the interval. Instead City camped around the visitors’ area as Sané, Silva, Jesus and Sterling terrorised Shakespeare’s men.
A Sané corner was mis-hit and came to Silva. The ball eventually returned to Sané and he skimmed in a cross that Ben Chilwell scrambled away. Next, Sterling took a ball from Yaya Touré, skinned Leicester’s defence, and played in Clichy. He refused to use his right foot to shoot, found Sané instead, and the ball was blasted over.
The lack of killer edge, which Guardiola constantly bemoans, was present again. How costly this might be was shown when Albrighton should have equalised in the second half from a Vardy pass. The winger mistimed the shot so City could breathe again, though they were now involved in a different contest to the one that had allowed them go 2-0 up.
Their rhythm had been disrupted by a Leicester who took up the fight and caused a concerned Guardiola to prowl the technical area. The Catalan’s stance is that more goals allows more comfortable defending and when Sané motored down the left a third seemed on, but there was no end product.
Next in this watchable game, Albrighton received a shiner after Fernandinho jabbed an upper arm into him. Despite the obvious evidence of the Brazilian’s offence, Madley gave a drop-ball, much to Leicester’s chagrin. Of this Shakespeare said: “We have looked at the replay and there is no intent from Fernandinho.” Later Albrighton piled into the Brazilian to exact retribution, for which he was booked.
By the end City had held on through seven minutes of added time. But this is the latest evidence Guardiola has work to do in the close season.
Guardian
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Post by rugbytoffee on May 13, 2017 19:49:07 GMT
What a bizzare penalty by Mahrez
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