Manchester City returned to winning ways with a well-earned win at Leicester.

Savinho scored his first goal for City, before Erling Haaland headed home in the second half for only his second goal in eight games.

James McAtee made a rare appearance and, after sparking the move that ended in Haaland's goal, earning chants from the away end. Pep Guardiola took the applause from the fans at full-time as a jubilant City squad left Leicester clearly delighted at stopping their slump

READ MORE: Pep Guardiola's harsh reaction to James McAtee moment shows he still wants more

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These are the moments you might have missed from City's clash vs Leicester:

Guardiola's Foden snub

Phil Foden is still waiting for lift-off this season. He was moved out to the wing at Leicester in an attempt to let him express himself without the burden of the defensive work that is required in the middle, but Foden was quiet and struggled to impact the game.

Last year's Premier League Player of the Season is no longer a shoo-in for a starting spot at City and the frustration was clear on his face when he made way for McAtee.

Guardiola had given McAtee some lengthy instructions as he wanted to come on, but took his seat as Foden trudged off and there was no handshake, hug or pat on the back from the manager who remained in his seat while Foden took his.

That isn't particularly unusual - Guardiola doesn't always do that for every player - however it felt like both parties want more from Foden this season.

After leading City to the title starting with a burst of form 12 months ago, Foden's year has tailed off dramatically. He will hope to begin 2025 far brighter than he has ended 2024.

Savinho fires back at critics

There has been justified criticism of Savinho since his summer move, often doing 90 per cent of his role to devastating effect before the final 10 per cent lets him down. That was evident in the second minute, when his first touch inside beat two players, a drop of the shoulder beat another, and he was in a perfect position to cross or shoot. But all he could do was run the ball out of play.

A stat has circulated before this game that Savinho boasted the most number of shots in the Premier League from a player yet to score this season (27), and the question marks are fair given his prolific form in La Liga last season.

He offered a perfect response by reacting quickest when Foden's shot was parried to fire in his first goal for City and put them ahead. 'We're staying up, City's staying up', came the ironic chant from the away end, before that quickly transitioned into 'Savinho'. Another chant followed for the Brazilian to the tune of 'Let it Snow'. The fans were delighted for him to get off the mark.

Savinho has clearly been aware of the noise around his lack of goals, as he paused on his walk back to the City half and covered his ears with his hands in a blatant message to the doubters. City and their fans will hope that strike opens the floodgates.

Fans make feelings clear to Guardiola

In a week where Guardiola inexplicably had to confirm he was committed to City Blues fans made their stance clear to the manager on his 500th game in charge.

In just the fifth minute, fans at the King Power Stadium went through their songbook for their greatest ever manager, giving him a vote of confidence he shouldn't need - but probably hugely appreciates.

The prospect of Guardiola stepping down amid City's poor run was driven by external critics rather than anyone connected to the club. He has built up enough credit to withstand this run of form, and new quotes came out pre-match where he insisted 'we will be back'.

It felt like the mood turned in Leicester. It's one step at a time, but for the first time in forever the club, manager and fans were looking forward again.

Haaland's almost-wonder goal

Haaland's missed penalty against Everton raised questions over his recent form - he had one in seven going into the Leicester clash and this was a return to the ground where he began his City career in the 2022 Community Shield. On that day, he was outshone by Darwin Nunez and missed a sitter, but he has more than made up for that in the following two-and-a-half seasons.

He didn't look like a player with the penalty miss still on his mind in the Midlands, linking well with Kevin De Bruyne early on to force a good save, and he almost scored the best goal of his City career later in the first half. Picking the ball up with his back to goal midway in the Leicester half, he turned and shrugged off two defenders to approach the box, then sidestepped his way through two more to get onto his stronger foot around 12 yards out.

It was the kind of skill we rarely see from a player who is better at finishing, so ironically it was the finish that let him down, dragging the effort just wide of the near post. The Norwegian ends 2024 with just the 38 goals this calendar year, and looked much more like his clinical self at Leicester - as his header proved and relief-fuelled fist-pumps reinforced.