Man City 2-0 Leicester: Match report & 4 talking points as Marmoush ensures Haaland not missed | OneFootball

Manchester City eased to a comfortable win over Leicester City on Wednesday night without ever having to get out of second gear at the Etihad Stadium.

Jack Grealish’s first Premier League goal in 15 months and Omar Marmoush’s fifth in eight league appearances since arriving in January made the difference, all in the first half alone.

City sit fourth in the table, but could be pushed down into fifth should Chelsea emerge victorious over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening. Leicester, meanwhile, have lost seven straight games and are 12 points adrift of safety with only eight games left.

How the game unfolded

It was a dream start for City, converting the first real chance of the game within the opening two minutes. Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi was caught on the ball in his own half by Jeremy Doku, who drove forward. When the play moved wide to Savinho, Grealish took up position by the penalty spot and converted clinically when the cutback from the Brazilian winger arrived.

City searched for a quick second, with waves of attacks that didn’t quite yield another rapid chance. Leicester came threatened an equaliser against the run of play when Bilal El Khannouss didn’t miss the target by much from outside the box, but Marmoush extended the home side’s half an hour in.

Starting in place of Erling Haaland, the January signing was the beneficiary of some dreadful goalkeeping from Mads Hermansen, who spilled a chipped ball into the box that found its way to the feet of Marmoush. With an open goal in front of him, he couldn’t miss.

Hermansen somewhat redeemed himself towards the end of the first half with a top save to deny Savinho, while Marmoush blazed over in his search for a City third.

The second half began like a training exercise, with City camped in Leicester territory. Wout Faes snuffed out a chance for Nico O’Reilly, before Marmoush went on to put a close-range effort over the top from Doku’s low cross.

With City getting an awful lot of space and joy in wide areas, a Leicester shift midway through the second half saw Ruud van Nistelrooy try to address that. Suddenly, there was more pressure and greater physicality when the ball was played into City’s wingers and full-backs.

But it was all a little too late from Leicester. So while they were better able to contain City, the hosts had long been comfortable and still refused to relinquish more than scraps in possession.

Towards the end of the game, there was a first senior appearance since August’s Community Shield for Oscar Bobb, having spent the last nine months recovering from a broken leg. January signing Vitor Reis also made his Premier League debut as a stoppage time substitute.

Player ratings

Check out the player ratings for Man City vs Leicester here.

Favourable fixture

Man City were always likely to win this one / Copa/GettyImages

City were made to work hard by Bournemouth for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals, so this game was a welcome return to Premier League action in a comfortable way.

No matter how you look at it, a home game against a side staring relegation in the face is favourable for a team like Manchester City. The result was never in doubt only 100 or seconds in.

Rotation, rotation, rotation

Jack Grealish benefitted from rotation / Michael Steele/GettyImages

Following the weekend, Pep Guardiola shuffled his pack. There was no Erling Haaland due to injury, seeing Omar Marmoush start in the ‘number nine’ role in the Premier League for the first time, having previously played slightly deeper or out wide. Just days after netting the winner against Bournemouth, he continued to show why City went big in the winter window.

Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden dropped to the bench, with Abdukhodir Khusanov left out of the matchday squad altogether – a rotation decision, rather than injury-related.

It meant returns for Savinho and Jeremy Doku, both top performers in this one, and a chance for Jack Grealish, which he took by breaking the deadlock inside two minutes. That goal was a first in the Premier League for the £100m man, not only this season, but since December 2023.

O’Reilly rewarded

Nico O'Reilly started a first Premier League game / Gareth Copley/GettyImages

City’s lack of defenders and a yellow card for the aforementioned Khusanov in the first half against Bournemouth resulted in Nico O’Reilly appearing off the bench as a stand-in left-back in that game. It’s not a position the attacking-minded midfielder is accustomed to – and he wasn’t tested defensively given that Bournemouth began to fade – but he changed the game by getting forward.

That matchwinning performance translated into first ever Premier League start here, and only his third overall appearance in the competition – as a left-back.

Matheus Nunes has been asked to fill in on the opposite flank in recent weeks and has had a rough time of it when it comes to defending one-on-ones. O’Reilly certainly benefitted from facing a blunted Leicester attacked that has been second worst in the league this season, but it will serve as a huge confidence boost to a young player just starting out.

Leicester’s drought goes on

Leicester cannot score goals / Richard Sellers/Allstar/GettyImages

Leicester have now failed to score in seven successive Premier League games. But when they’re failing to even muster attempts, it’s not surprising why. It was two shots here, neither on target.

The Foxes last scored a league goal (two of them) during a win over Tottenham Hotspur in January. They’ve lost all seven games since and have taken only three points from the last 45 on offer.

Prior to Christmas, a top half finish was feasibly within reach. Fast forward to April, and the Championship beckons with one of the all-time low Premier League points tallies.