PREMIER LEAGUE
City beat Leicester in 9-goal thriller
Man City and Leicester City took part in a goal-fest at the Etihad stadium on Boxing Day, as Pep Guardiola's side moved further ahead at the top of the table.
Manchester City survived a spirited Leicester City fightback to earn a thrilling 6-3 victory on Sunday, a ninth Premier League win in a row moving them six points clear the top of the standings.
With second-placed Liverpool not in action after their clash with Leeds United was postponed due to COVID-19 cases at the Yorkshire club, City appeared out of sight midway through the first half at the Etihad Stadium.
De Bruyne opens scoring
The in-form champions raced into a fifth-minute lead through Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, before a Riyad Mahrez penalty put the hosts in control nine minutes later.
Things went from bad to worse for a Leicester side struggling to replicate last season's form, with Ilkay Gundogan and another penalty, converted by Raheem Sterling, giving the hosts a four-goal lead inside 25 minutes.
Leicester storm back
Despite looking dead and buried, Leicester stormed back in the second half as goals from James Maddison, Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho threatened to derail the league leaders.
Aymeric Laporte's 69th-minute header and Sterling's late second took the champions over the line, however, as they moved on to 47 points, six clear of Liverpool, from 19 matches. Leicester dropped to 10th.
"We just had to control the game," Sterling told the BBC. "At 4-0 up you have to kill the game.
"Leicester have some really good players. They didn't get disheartened and kept going. Credit to them."
Leicester stunned Pep Guardiola's side last season in the same fixture, thrashing their opponents 5-2 at the Etihad, thanks largely to a Jamie Vardy hat-trick.
The encounter is the first ever Premier League game on Boxing Day to have as many as nine goals.
- 31 Ederson Moraes
- 11 Zinchenko
- 14 Laporte
- 27 Cancelo
- 3 Rúben Dias
- 17 De Bruyne (70')
- 8 Gündogan
- 25 Fernandinho
- 20 Bernardo Silva
- 7 Sterling x2
- 26 Mahrez
- Substitutes
- 10 Grealish
- 37 Kayky
- 80 Cole Palmer
- 79 Luke Mbete
- 33 Carson
- 13 Zackary Steffen
- 6 Aké
- 47 Foden (70')
- 9 Gabriel Jesus
- 1 Schmeichel
- 18 Amartey
- 33 Luke Thomas
- 11 Albrighton
- 23 Vestergaard
- 37 Ademola Lookman
- 22 Kieran Dewsbury-Hall
- 17 Ayoze Pérez (45')
- 8 Tielemans (70')
- 10 James Maddison
- 14 K. Iheanacho
- Substitutes
- 35 Jakupovic
- 27 Castagne (45')
- 45 Ben Nelson
- 49 Kasey McAteer
- 25 Onyinye Ndidi
- 42 Boubakary Soumare
- 20 Hamza Choudhury (70')
- 38 Vontae Daley-Campbell
- 9 Vardy
Substitutions
Timothy Castagne (45', Ayoze Pérez), Phil Foden (70', Kevin De Bruyne), Hamza Choudhury (70', Youri Tielemans)
Goals
1-0, 4': De Bruyne, 2-0, 13': Mahrez, 3-0, 20': Gündogan, 4-0, 24': Sterling, 4-1, 54': James Maddison, 4-2, 58': Ademola Lookman, 4-3, 64': K. Iheanacho, 5-3, 68': Laporte, 6-3, 86': Sterling
Cards
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR Referee: Paul Tierney, Scott Ledger
Vestergaard (44',Yellow) James Maddison (74',Yellow) Fernandinho (90',Yellow)
