Pep Guardiola celebrated 500 games as Manchester City manager and returned to winning ways – but the champions were once again far from their best.

Savinho’s first goal for the club put them ahead at half-time before Leicester City had a number of chances to restore parity. Erling Haaland, who wasted three good opportunities, secured the game in the 74th minute when he headed in Savinho’s cross.

Savinho gave City the lead in the 21st minute when Jakub Stolarczyk parried Phil Foden’s shot and the Brazilian winger fired home from a tight angle.

Haaland could have scored a second after a solo run, but Leicester were always a threat and Facundo Buonanotte headed against the post after hesitant defending.

Leicester continued to push for an equaliser, with Manuel Akanji clearing James Justin’s shot off the line after a free-kick caused chaos and Jamie Vardy fired over from close range. But Haaland scored the second goal when Savinho crossed from the left and the Norwegian headed the ball down and into the corner.

Tim Spiers and Anantaajith Raghuraman analyze the talking points from the King Power Stadium.

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Can Savinho score more goals now?

The blame for City’s recent ineptitude lies more with their wafer-thin defence. And rightly so: they were extremely vulnerable, especially on the counterattack, which contributed to Guardiola’s side losing their aura of invincibility.

However, the lack of goals has also noticeably decreased, not just for Erling Haaland (two Premier League goals since October), but across the board.

This time last year, City had seven players who had scored more than two goals in the Premier League. Only three have reached this mark this year (Haaland, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol).

Savinho – along with Phil Foden (one league goal), Jack Grealish (none), Ilkay Gundogan (none), Matheus Nunes (none) – has contributed nowhere near what you would expect in front of goal, with none in 23 appearances overall Competitions that go into this game.

Here he finally got on target, ending a spirited City push through Leicester’s midfield with a clever finish after Foden’s shot had been blocked.

He became the ninth Brazilian player to score for Man City in the Premier League, with only Arsenal scoring more Brazilians in the competition (12).

It was also Savinho’s 54th shot in all competitions this season. City will be hoping the man who wears Riyah Mahrez’s No.26 jersey can now contribute regularly.

Savinho pounces and Man City leads! 💥 pic.twitter.com/k8pQmq3WkC

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 29, 2024

And for readers in the USA:

Savinho scores his first goal for Manchester City to give them a crucial lead at Leicester. 👏

📺 Peacock | #LEIMCI pic.twitter.com/kzwt8NufxE

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 29, 2024

Tim Spiers

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Is Haaland on the verge of scoring?

For someone who is close to 20 goals in all competitions before the New Year, you wouldn’t necessarily say Haaland needs a goal. But well, after scoring just once in seven games, he did it.

City were in far more trouble here against Leicester than they needed to be – due to their now-familiar fragility in their own penalty area, which almost cost them when Vardy equalized just minutes before Haaland’s decisive goal.

Haaland almost scored a very unorthodox goal early in the game when he galloped from 40 yards, tackled four players and then shot narrowly wide.

But when he did come, it was classic Haaland: he allowed himself to be dissuaded from his man, stayed onside and met the cross with a superb leap and header past a helpless goalkeeper. The away game was celebrated with real meaning; After a few tumultuous months, this seemed pretty important.

And James McAtee’s contribution to the build-up, weaving past two players before the ball was passed to Savinho to cross, should not be overlooked.

After the goal, they chanted McAtee’s name.

Tim Spiers

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Signs of progress in midfield?

City scored first in each of their three league games, but failed to score a second goal and ultimately failed to win any of those games.

This trend seemed to be repeated against Leicester, who were able to bypass the visitors’ midfield with just one or two passes on several occasions thanks to Bilal El Khannouss and Buonanotte, with Stephy Mavididi also causing danger from wide areas.

Vardy was caught offside twice from promising positions in the first half and also forced a save from Stefan Ortega after a Gvardiol error. Vardy also had Leicester’s best chance of the game when he fired Mavididi’s cross over the bar in the 68th minute.

While Leicester created a few chances, Man City’s general play without possession showed improvements compared to previous games.

They backed off a bit from their high pressing but remained organised, making good use of space in midfield and being more convincing in the duels, with Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Kovacic all impressive.

This eventually allowed Man City to stay ahead until substitute McAtee, thanks to Savinho’s excellent skills, was able to set up Haaland for his goal in the 74th minute.

From then on, Guardiola’s team controlled the proceedings as Leicester piled up the numbers in search of a goal and secured a much-needed win.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

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What did Guardiola say?

“’Relief’ is the right word for more than ‘happiness’; Our performance wasn’t the best, but I’m happy for the players and their commitment.

“When Kevin (De Bruyne) is fit, Kevin Kevin is… one of the most influential players in Manchester City history. He needs physicality to feel the way Kevin wants. Of course we need him – I’m very happy, especially with the performance he did.

“Every action (James) did that McAtee did was good, he didn’t do a single action wrong. Sometimes the older players are under more pressure than the younger ones. I had the feeling before the game: “If I have to make a substitution today, James will be the first.”

“It’s just one game, we’ll see what happens. Step by step we hope we can get the players back and get back to our best.”

What’s next for Man City?

Saturday, January 4th: West Ham (H), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET

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(Top photo: Savinho and Haaland celebrate the second goal. DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images))