26th December, 2018
Manchester City suffered their second successive defeat as Ricardo Pereira’s spectacular late strike gave Leicester a win and dropped Pep Guardiola’s side down to third.
Ricardo blasted in a winner from the edge of the penalty area in the 81st minute after Leroy Sane’s weak header to leave Manchester City seven points behind leaders Liverpool and take them below Tottenham as well.
According to BBC, The visitors had taken a 14th-minute lead when they took advantage of poor defending from the home side as Sergio Aguero released Bernardo Silva and he calmly slotted past Kasper Schmeichel.
But their lead only lasted five minutes as Marc Albrighton headed in from Jamie Vardy’s cross, before Ricardo’s stunning winner for a Leicester side who had also won 1-0 at Chelsea on Saturday.
The away side ended the game with 10 men as Fabian Delph was shown a red card when he slid in on Ricardo and caught him on the knee.
Manchester City only lost twice in all of 2017-18 as they became the champions, but this loss was their second in five days after a shock 3-2 home defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday.
It has been a miserable festive period so far for Guardiola’s side, who have now twice surprisingly been beaten after scoring the game’s opening goal.
There appeared to be no danger when Aguero linked up with Bernardo Silva, who gave City the lead early on. But, just like against Palace, Guardiola’s side let their opponents back into the game within minutes of going in front.
Bernardo Silva’s goal was his fifth in the Premier League for Manchester City this season and his seventh in all competitions
Their lead over Palace only lasted six minutes on Saturday, and it only took Leicester five minutes to peg Guardiola’s team back at the King Power Stadium.
Poor defending, and Vardy being given space to cross from the left side of the penalty area, saw Albrighton get himself clear of marker Delph at the back post to head past Ederson.
City had chances to retake the lead with Aguero surprisingly scooping the ball over from six yards out from Leroy Sane’s pull-back.
Kevin de Bruyne, making his first Premier League start of the season after knee injuries, did well to create space for a low cross, but Kasper Schmeichel did well to hold on to the ball as Aguero waited to pounce.
The away side had the majority of possession in the second half, but Sane’s poor header late on was punished with a spectacular finish from Ricardo.
City are aiming to win the Premier League for a fourth time in eight seasons and have 44 points, with Liverpool, who they play at home on 3 January, on 51 points after their 4-0 home win over Newcastle.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham have also moved above City, thanks to their 5-0 home success over Bournemouth.