After ending his own personal streak of misfortune, Erling Haaland summed up Manchester City’s recent crisis rather succinctly.

“S--- happens,” he pondered during a live post-match television interview, after registering his first goal in five matches to settle a Premier League contest the champions never dominated like their all-conquering teams of years gone by.

Eight days after admitting he was “not good enough” this season, following a defeat at Aston Villa, here Haaland had the look of a man who had lifted a crushing weight from his shoulders.

He has recently become a father for the first time and his 74th-minute goal was a textbook header which clearly meant something as he celebrated exuberantly in front of the travelling supporters.

“We are staying up” was a regular chant from those fans, who frequently reverted to gallows humour as City picked up only a second win in 14 matches.

After this 500th match in charge, Pep Guardiola will be desperate for the victory to kick-start an alarming season back into life.

Their poor run of results was never going to last for too much longer and this felt like a return to something like normality.

It was slightly fortunate, and at times Guardiola’s defence creaked under pressure, desperately hacking the ball clear like a plucky lower-league club up against a giant.

While the league title may be beyond City, the crucial Champions League places remain in their sights despite such an unexpected sequence of results.

The relief on Haaland’s face, in particular, was tangible at the end, swearing live on Sky Sports in a post-match interview. “S--- happens and you just have to get on with it. Every game is difficult and you have to work at it,” he said.

“It’s important to look ahead and we have to focus on the right things. It’s always a relief when you score. It’s been a difficult time, now it’s New Year, so let’s not think too much about football. I’m just happy that we are winning. Now we can rest up a bit and go again when we play.”

Guardiola was in typically pensive mood as he reflected on a tricky few months, admitting that the emotion of relief outweighed happiness.

His team had lost seven of their last eight away games in all competitions before this assignment in the East Midlands, while they had conceded 26 goals since the start of November.

“We have had to prove a lot and the best of us will come back, that’s for sure,” he said. “To manage for 500 games is a lot and it was nice to share this with the players and the staff. I’ve not been happy in the last 14-15 games but we have to be so pleased with the outcome together.

“We have done a lot of things and made memories for ever, and maybe now you appreciate them more. I’ve made some mistakes and did consider changing things but all of us needed this.”

A fourth defeat in a row for Leicester, but their season will never be judged on games against the champions.

Bilal El Khannouss, a £19 million summer signing from Genk, and Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte, were impressive as the two No 10s, and there was plenty of encouragement for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

He will look to two missed chances by Jamie Vardy, of all people, shortly before both goals as pivotal moments.

“This was a performance to build on and it hurts a bit that we didn’t take anything from the game,” said Leicester’s manager. “There are two ways to look at results, in results purely and when you lose you are bad and win you are great.

“We want to develop players in their roles and as managers and coaches you feel you are developing something, but the best feeling is to collect points. I felt the performance was reflected in the stands and that is why I feel sorry for the team that we couldn’t take something.”

Vardy has been a frequent menace to Guardiola over the years, with two hat-tricks, and the visiting manager must have feared the worst in the 19th minute.

Josko Gvardiol’s poor header presented Vardy with a golden chance, but his shot was saved by Stefan Ortega.

It proved costly for Leicester, as 90 seconds later Manchester City took the lead.

Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk will not want to watch the incident again, pushing aside Phil Foden’s low shot but straight into the path of Savinho, who swept the ball into the roof of the net.

The nerves were still apparent though as Leicester responded. Ortega denied James Justin before Buonanotte headed against a post.

In the second half, Manuel Akanji cleared off the line from Justin, before Vardy hooked a shot over the crossbar when executing a header looked the easier option.

Haaland’s moment came 16 minutes from time and the emphatic finish suggested the recent drought had been a trick of the imagination. It was a powerful header from close range, rising to direct Savinho’s cross into the corner.

Normal service to resume?

04:24 PM GMT

Full time: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Not a comprehensive or particularly convincing victory – Leicester were the better side for most of the second half and patches in the first – but a clean sheet, three points and an Erling Haaland goal will help to stop the rot.

04:22 PM GMT

90+5 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Vital defensive header from Lewis at the back post to hold off Daka as City were cut open down their right for the umpteenth time.

04:21 PM GMT

90+4 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Man City fans are rolling back the years and olé-ing every pass as Leicester fans start to stream out of the King Power.

04:20 PM GMT

90+3 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Leicester have made three more recent changes:

Okoli → Coady
Alves → Mavididi
Daka → Winks

04:19 PM GMT

90+1 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Choudhury rounds Lewis, now at left-back, and pulls the cross back to the penalty spot…straight to Kovacic who clears.

04:18 PM GMT

90 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Five minutes of stoppage time go up on the board.

04:17 PM GMT

88 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Vardy loops a header on to the top of the crossbar from Mavididi’s cross. Momentarily it put Ortega into a flap as he shuffled across his line but it didn’t dip in time to creep under the bar.

04:14 PM GMT

86 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

04:13 PM GMT

85 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

McAtee has been very lively and may have the energy over the next few weeks that has been conspicuous by its absence at the Etihad. He cuts in from the right on to his left and whistles a left-foot shot from 25 yards over the angle of left post and crossbar.

04:11 PM GMT

82 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Another half-chance for Vardy set up by Choudhury’s pinged centre but he cannot reach it as he telescopes out a leg.

04:09 PM GMT

80 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Mistakes from Coady, Vestergaard and Justin allows De Bruyne to latch on to the ball and play Savinho in down the left but his cross lacks whip and zip and Haaland can only reach it at the apex of his leap and loop it at the keeper.

04:06 PM GMT

78 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Now the Man City fans are serenading the Leicester supporters with ‘You’re going down with United’.

04:04 PM GMT

76 min: Leicester 0 Man City 2

Leicester’s stats were showing second-half dominance but McAtee’s touch of class, and Leicester’s poor finishing, have taken the game away from the home side. Mind you we said that about Feyenoord…

04:00 PM GMT

GOAL!

Leicester 0 Man City 2 (Haaland) Brilliant goal, instigated by McAtee who sends Kristiansen off to buy a fish supper and an Evening Post out by the right touchline. He diddles the full-back with a drag back, glides past and feeds De Bruyne who angles a superb pass to Savinho and the winger whips a cross between the centre-backs for Haaland to get up and bludgeon his header home from six yards.

04:00 PM GMT

72 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

City haven’t been at the races this half... until ....

03:57 PM GMT

70 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

A change apiece:

Walker → Ake.

Choudhury → Justin.

03:56 PM GMT

68 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Big miss from Vardy after a glorious inswinging right-foot cross from the left by Mavididi. It dipped perfectly between Ake and Akanji but instead of heading it, Vardy hitched up a leg and hooked it over the bar. The scale of the miss is reflected by how hard Vardy booted the post afterwards.

03:54 PM GMT

66 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

El Khannouss is booked for a lunge at Lewis while trying to keep the ball in play.

First City change:

McAtee → Foden.

03:53 PM GMT

64 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Vardt caught between two stools when he is found in space on the right of the box by Winks’ pass. He lets the ball run across him and then sends over a ball that was neither cross or shot and bends away from goal.

03:50 PM GMT

61 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Lewis concedes a free-kick wide on the Leicester left when he wraps his arms around Kristiansen. Leicester arc the free-kick to the back post where Coady traps it and chips it back across to Vardy who nods it across the six-yard box to Justin who makes a mess of it and Ake blocks the tame effort on the line.

03:47 PM GMT

59 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Leicester free-kick 22 yards out, left of the D after a Bernardo foul. They seem to line up the shot but then cross it on a shallow trajectory to Vestergaard whose header goes behind his runners and City clear. Haaland could have been on for a counter but his touch and uncharacteristic safety-first approach kills the possibility.

03:45 PM GMT

58 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Haaland has a poke at a shot from the corner which was taken short but cannot impart the power or precsion to beat the defence.

03:44 PM GMT

57 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Soumaré is penalised and booked for a trip on Bernardo. Man City free-kick 40 yards out on the left. Foden swings it to the back post and Soumaré has to put it behind in fear of the lurking Akanji.

03:43 PM GMT

55 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Quick Man City break almost drwas Gvardiol in at the back post to convert but Leicester scramble it behind then defend the corner safely.

03:42 PM GMT

53 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Mavididi beats the lazy lunge of Kovavcic as he shimmies and squirms through the middle. The tackle when it comes diverts the ball to El Khannouss who wraps his instep around a shot and whips it high over the bar.

03:39 PM GMT

52 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Man City defend the corner solidly and begin some probing of their own.

03:38 PM GMT

50 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Leicester enjoy a long spell of possession, horse-shoeing the ball around and up the wings patiently, clocking up the passes until the killer pass comes to El Khannouss who slides it down the inside-left for Buonanotte who over-runs it, dives and points the finger at Ake but has to settle for a corner when the Man City defender knocks it behind. No pen and another dive goes unpunished.

03:35 PM GMT

48 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Akanji shuttles across to the right to stop El Khannouss from latching on to Mavididi’s hooked pass.

03:34 PM GMT

46 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

No changes. The half-time punditry consensus between Jamie Redknapp and Izzy Christiansen is that Leicester will get more chances and everything may hinge on their ability to convert a couple. De Bruyne is caught offside down the right.

03:19 PM GMT

Half-time: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Very open game, lots of mistakes and City’s greater quality both in the employment of their offside trap and in the short-passing around the box to find space from nowhere has put and kept them ahead.

03:18 PM GMT

45 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Good tackle by De Bruyne on Soumaré who was trying to play it out from the back. The Man City captain toes the ball away to Bernardo who feeds Haaland. The centre-forward has Coady right at his back and cannot shake him off so turns and lays it back to Bernardo who should have shot but lays it off instead to Gvardiol and the left-back pumps a shot over the bar.

03:15 PM GMT

44 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Akanji misjudges a crossfield pass to Foden and gives him no chance of trapping it.

03:13 PM GMT

43 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Leicester corner on the left is hacked behind for another by De Bruyne. Ake heads the next one clear, from right under his crossbar.

03:12 PM GMT

41 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Now it’s the visitors who keep giving the ball away. Man City may well manage to sucker them in and then strike on the counter but they don’t half look vulnerable when Leicester run at them.

03:11 PM GMT

39 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Gary Neville notes how leggy Man City look when running back to cover counters. They also lack their one truly aggressive defender, Ruben Dias.

03:10 PM GMT

37 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Buonanotte hits the post with a loopy header as Man City’s defensive holes and uncharacteristic hesitancy allows the ball to ping around the box first for Justin to head into Ake at close range and Buonanotte to follow up.

03:07 PM GMT

35 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Haaland drops deeper to find some space and turns like his old self and belts a left-foot shot that whistles past the right post and makes a resounding bang! when it hits the hoardings.

03:06 PM GMT

33 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Long spell of Leicester probing comes to an end when they find the gap down the right and free El Khanouss to flood into it. He exposes Gvardiol’s limitations as a full-back with a cross that bypasses him and bends away from goal invitingly through the six-yard box. Justin slides in but can’t reach it, Vardy lets it go past thinking Buonanotte is better placed at the back stick but he can’t get there either to make the right connection to poke it into an empty net with Ortega scrambling across in understandable panic. Buonanotte hits the post in both senses.

03:01 PM GMT

30 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

De Bruyne goes down face first in the box when Kristiansen and Vestergaard scissor across his run chasing a bouncing ball. The shout goes up for a penalty but he went down like a bag of spanners, an obvious dive goes unpunished.

02:59 PM GMT

28 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

From Gvardiol’s throw, Man City try to find Haaland with a cross but it parts the first defender’s hair which takes the sting out of it and Haaland can only float a header straight down the keeper’s throat.

02:57 PM GMT

26 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

Man City corner on the left after Justin blocked Savinho’s cross. De Bruyne goes short for the one-two and his eventual cross, from a wider angle, is headed out for a Man City throw-in.

02:56 PM GMT

24 min: Leicester 0 Man City 1

The travelling fans greet the goal with ‘City are staying up!’ Leicester were playing pretty well on the break up to that point but they were carved open down the outside- and inside-right channels with slick passing and an injection of pace.

02:50 PM GMT

GOAL!

Leicester 0-1 Man City (Savinho) Leicester concede a free-kick with a shove from their corner and Ortega starts the attack by moving the ball up the right. De Bruyne shifts up the gears, whips a pass into Lewis who stabs it deftly on to Foden. He takes it infield, lengthening his stride, towards the right of the D and thumps a low shot, not quite in the corner. Stolarczyk gets down to save but parries it to Savinho who buries the rebound high into the goal. The keeper had to smother it or push it wider.

02:50 PM GMT

19 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Big error from Gvardiol when Coady chips a pass up the right. He lets it bounce with Mavididi at his back and heads iot back to Ortega but leaves it short, Vardy pounces on the mistake but his touch tightens the angle, taking him close to the byline and his shot is comfortably blocked by a sprawling Ortega at the price of a corner.

02:48 PM GMT

17 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

City’s offisde trap has them operating as a 2-3-4-1 at times, playing a very high line. Gvardiol hitches across to the touchline to slide in and tackle Justin who wasfound by a Coady long pass.

02:47 PM GMT

15 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Soumaré picks off Akanki’s straight pass up the inside right and, via Winks and Mavididi, triggers a run for Vardy down the left with a tempting threaded pass. Lewis gets back rapidly to cover but the flag goes up, rightly despite Vardy’s protests, and the counter-attack is snuffed out.

02:42 PM GMT

12 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Vardy is brought down by Ortega in the area but is saved from conceding a penalty and a possible red card by an offside flag. Man City simply have no way of countering transition attacks, counter-attacks, with their midfield set-up and the full-backs pushed so high. It’s largely a swarm of oponenst running at the centre-backs with the full-backs racing back but facing their own goal.

02:40 PM GMT

10 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Smart break from Leicester down their right with Justin and Buonanotte, once again cutting through midfield as if it isn’t there. But Justin takes a touch too many and lets Man City off the hook.

02:39 PM GMT

8min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Big chance for Haaland, a crisp right-foot shot from 12 yards saved by Stolarczyk’s feet after a vintage De Bruyne shimmy and pass. Should have scored.

02:37 PM GMT

7 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

First moment of promise for Leicester when Mavididi is played in down the left, bypassing Foden and Man City’s midfield with ease. The winger barrels forward, faced up by Lewis and he tries to bend it round the right-back and into the top right but his shot stays true and ends up closer to the corner flag.

02:35 PM GMT

5 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Leicester keep giving the ball back to Man City and when Kovacic leaves a pass short he is reprieved by Mavididi’s rotten first touch. Kovacic squares it across the 18 yard line to De Bruyne who blazes over.

02:33 PM GMT

3 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

Savinho, who starts on the left, is played in by an angled Gvardiol pass and he accelerates on a storming run after a fine first touch, tacking infield diagonally and to the byline where he is squeezed out of room by Kristiansen. Poor first goal-kick from Stolarczyk hoofs it straight onto touch on halfway.

02:32 PM GMT

1 min: Leicester 0 Man City 0

I will endeavour not to just refer to Man City as City given both sides are similarly monikered but if I do so, I apologise in advance. I’m getting old and my habits are older still.

Man City kick off and move the ball back to Ortega to build patiently. Gvardiol pops the passes around halfway.

02:29 PM GMT

Sound the horns

Out come the players to the usual fanfare of hunting horns. Leicester are in all royal blue, Man City not in their Kevin Horlock-tribute high vis but in their home shirt and shorts plus white socks.

02:17 PM GMT

A brief word from Ruud van Nistelrooy

01:55 PM GMT

Pep Guardiola speaks to Sky Sports

01:47 PM GMT

Vardy has a good record against Guardiola teams

01:45 PM GMT

Kevin De Bruyne speaks to Sky Sports

01:25 PM GMT

Your team news in black and white

Leicester City  Stolarczyk; Justin, Coady, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Winks, Soumaré; El Khannouss, Buonanotte, Mavididi; Vardy.
Substitutes Iversen, Okoli, Wilson-Brown, Thomas, Skipp, Choudhury, De Cordova-Reid, Alves, Daka.

Manchester City  Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo; Savinho, Haaland, Foden.
Substitutes Carson, Walker, Grealish, Doku, Gundogan, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, O’Reilly, McAtee.

Referee Michael Oliver (Ashington).

01:19 PM GMT

Leicester team news – Vardy is back

Buonanotte and Vardy are the two changes, coming in for the suspended Ayew and Daka, who is on the bench.

01:17 PM GMT

One change for City

De Bruyne comes in for Doku. Grealish and Walker return to the bench.

01:16 PM GMT

This is Guardiola’s 500th match as Man City manager

Can he record his 362nd win?

05:08 PM GMT

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05:05 PM GMT

Preview: ‘In normal circumstances...’

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the opening match from the 19th round of 2024-25 Premier League fixtures, after which we are slap bang in the deep midseason where frosty wind made moan. And neither tale of these two Cities makes for a warm glow right now after Leicester’s three successive defeats under Ruud van Nistelrooy and Man City’s similar record under Pep Guardiola leave them in 18th and seventh respectively. the Foxes a point and a net seven goals behind Wolves’ revival mission, Manchester City six point off a Champions League spot and 14 behind Liverpool.

Man City have won their last four at King Power Stadium, winning 1-0 during Leicester’s relegation season in 2022-23 by virtue of Kevin de Bruyne’s winner and in normal circumstances it would be a match the home side would write off as a hit to nothing. But normal circumstances have been blown away by the loss of Guardiola’s linchpin and the world’s best player, Rodri, and so far, bedevilled by injuries – Oscar Bobb, Ruben Dias and John Stones join the Ballon d’Or winner on the sidelines while Kyle Walker, Ederson, Jack Grealish and Matheus Nunes are major doubts – he has been unable to devise a solution that does not expose his ageing squad to the pace of opponents gleefully scavenging on a litany of individual errors.

It is commonly assumed that this can be fixed by some judicious signings during January but Guardiola-ball, JdP, is best inhaled during pre-season and takes a while to assimilate. But I suppose given they’re straitjacketed by participation in the preposterous Fifa World Club Cup in the summer, hey won’t have much time in the summer either and hence better get weaving. Given they have so much money and PSR headroom because of their disposals, some of which look decidedly hubristic now, better to act now and have the players learn on the job.

Leicester, by contrast, have little headroom after avoiding Football and Premier League sanction, but need reinforcements in goal, defence and up front. Van Nistelrooy made the bold and necessary call to drop Danny Ward entirely for the 3-1 defeat at Anfield and he was rewarded with a fine performance from Jakub Stolarczyk that prevented a second-half rout. Last season Enzo Maresca used Wout Faes and Jannik Westergaard as his preferred central defensive partnership but it just doesn’t work at this level. Mind you, if Conor Coady is your answer in a back four, I’m not sure you’re asking the right question. Faes, along with Jamie Vardy and Kasey McAteer, face late tests today while Jordan Ayew, who scored at Anfield to give them a lead they held on to for 40 minutes until engulfed by the red tide, is suspended.