Manchester [United Kingdom], April 16 : Three goals in the first half sealed the victory for Manchester City against Leicester City on Saturday but former Liverpool star Jamie Redknapp believes the Blues got incredibly lucky.
Erling Haaland's brace and a stunner from John Stones put City in the driving seat. Guardiola decided to take off his star players to keep them fit and avoid the chances of getting injured.
However, with star players sitting in the dugout Leicester found a way to shift the flow of the game and get a goal in the 75th minute of the game. The visitors looked deadly and tried to make a comeback as they have on previous occasions against different opposition.
"It could have backfired for Manchester City, taking Rodri, De Bruyne, Grealish and Haaland off. It goes to 3-1 and Maddison and Iheanacho had great chances. Man City had no answers. They got away with it. Of course, you have to make changes and protect players but they were incredibly lucky today," said Jamie Redknapp while talking to Sky Sports.
"From Leicester's point of view, Dean Smith will take 3-1 but they had momentum when the goal went in. He can turn that into a positive but it was self-inflicted by the changes that Guardiola made," Jamie Redknapp continued.
Man City's dominance in the first 10 minutes as John Stones opened City's account early in the fifth minute itself, scoring with help of a magnificent left-footed volley from the edge of the penalty box.
Haaland converted a penalty In the 13th minute to double his side's lead, sending home fans into loud cheers.
Wilfried Ndidi's weak challenge let Kevin de Bruyne set up Haaland's second goal and the Norway star converted the opportunity into a brace with no hesitation. 25 minutes into the game, the scoreline read 3-0 in favour of Manchester City.
Haaland is now having 32 goals in a 38-game PL season. He is just two goals away from the record for most goals in a Premier League season, which is held by Andrew Cole (34 goals in 1993/94) and Alan Shearer (34 goals in 1994/95), when the season used to be 42-games-per-side affair.
In the 75th minute, a goal by substitute Kelechi Iheanacho offered Leicester fans a little to cheer about.
With this win, City is in second place in the points table with 70 points, three shy of table-toppers Arsenal. They have 22 wins, four draws and four losses in 30 matches. Leicester City is in the 19th spot, with only seven wins in 31 matches, four draws and 20 losses. They have only a total of 25 points.
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