Manchester City did what they desired: beat Leicester to keep their title defence in their hands before Arsenal travel here for a seismic showdown on 26 April.
For Dean Smith, this first match of a tenure that will finish at the end of the season was always going to be one to chalk off in his side’s fight to beat the drop. Towards the end Kelechi Iheanacho tapped in after a mix-up between Kalvin Phillips and Ederson but it was a consolation only.
Before that, Erling Haaland scored twice to take his tally to 32 in the Premier League this season, the competition’s best return since Alan Shearer’s 34 in 1994-95. John Stones, too, registered in a flying start from those in blue.
A maxim when taking on City at the Etihad might be “do not concede early” or they could then steamroll you. Sadly, the Foxes could not heed those words as first Stones and then Haaland beat Daniel Iversen before 15 minutes were gone.
For the opener, Leicester’s goalkeeper beat away a Riyad Mahrez shot to concede a corner, which his defence subsequently failed to clear. The ball ping-ponged about the area, Rodri beat Jamie Vardy to back-head it to Stones and the centre-back hooked home a sweet left-foot volley. “It’s a really tough [start], then we had to suffer,” said Smith.
This was after five minutes. Another eight had ticked by when Haaland beat Iversen from the spot to the keeper’s left. The penalty came after Jack Grealish’s cross hit Wilfred Ndidi’s arm in the area. Darren England said no to the appeals but the VAR ordered him to the pitchside screen and, on review, he changed his ruling. Haaland did the rest for a 14th goal in his past six outings, despite Iversen diving the correct way.
In the late-afternoon sunshine it felt like the contest was already over. Yet soon Leicester moved upfield and James Maddison unloaded an effort: although there was no goal, it showed that City should remain vigilant. Or go down the other end and score a third, which they did.
Ndidi once more was key. He shirked a 50-50 with Kevin De Bruyne after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s ball sold him a touch short. “I like he won this duel,” said Guardiola of the Belgian, who had then surged forward and rolled a precise pass into Haaland that allowed the striker to curve his run away from a defender before expertly sand-wedging a finish over Iversen.
Smith, in his technical area, looked bewildered, perhaps pondering what the score might end up as. Guardiola is also a touchline prowler so for him to be back in his seat showed just how at ease he was. When Maddison thumped a ball meant for Jamie Vardy into the seats along the right Smith grimaced and the home faithful jeered as if watching a pantomime.
Guardiola had restored Kyle Walker to the XI for the first time in a month and the right-back was sharp, intercepting one Dewsbury-Hall pass, roving along his flank to join the attack and covering smartly in the rare moments those in black moved anywhere close to Ederson’s goal. He and his teammates were in cruise control, toying with their opponents, deciding when to apply the throttle and when to ease off.
At the interval it was “only” 3-0, but the copious second-half changes Guardiola made disrupted City’s rhythm, with Julián Álvarez replacing Haaland and Manuel Akanji coming on for Stones.
Smith made his own switches, introducing Luke Thomas and Iheanacho for Victor Kristiansen and Jamie Vardy. Then, on 52 minutes, Rodri was removed for Phillips, who was keen to add to his total of only 65 Premier League minutes since arriving in the summer. After taking a touch or two, the midfielder watched as City claimed a corner and Mahrez’s delivery was pinged directly at the boot of a lurking Grealish on the edge of the area. It was a routine reminiscent of the one Paul Scholes once scored from for Manchester United, but the City player badly misfired.
Mahrez next took aim with his left foot and caused a diving Iversen to tip the ball over. With an eye on Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Bayern Munich Guardiola made a fourth switch as the hour passed, protecting De Bruyne by replacing him with Cole Palmer.
The City manager, by now seated on a drinks icebox, gazed upon what was at this juncture another masterful performance to add to the countless others since his arrival in east Manchester seven years ago.
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But then came a nervy close. An Iheanacho strike hit a post and Maddison spurned a golden chance. Guardiola, ever the perfectionist, did not like these near-misses, but was content at the final score.
Phillips said: “We always say we never take things for granted and we did let our standards slip but we are happy with the first 60 minutes, and we are looking ahead to Bayern Munich and the rest of the Premier League too.”
Now Arsenal dare not slip up at West Ham on Sunday.
