IANS
LEICESTER, DECEMBER 30
English football club Leicester City battled star-studded Manchester City to a 0-0 draw here to boost their points total to 39, the same as Premier League leaders Arsenal though the ‘Gunners’ remain at the top on goal difference.
A near record crowd packed into Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Tuesday to see their side, which had to scramble to avoid relegation last year just months after returning to the top flight, face the club that has won two Premier League titles in the last four seasons, reports Efe.
The visitors got the first clear chance of the game in the 18th minute when City’s Kevin de Bruyne put Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to the test.
The ‘Foxes’ answered with a shot from outside the area by Algerian international Riyad Mahrez.
Man City then seized the initiative with the speedy Raheem Sterling getting off three shots on goal in the space of five minutes, only to be thwarted by Schmeichel.Leicester squandered two solid chances in the waning minutes of the first half. While Marc Albrighton failed to convert on a great cross from Christian Fuchs, a turnover by Manchester’s Fernandinho left the ball on the foot of Jamie Vardy, who shares the Premier League scoring lead with Everton’s Romelu Lukaku. But Vardy, who has 15 goals, sent the ball over the net.
The visitors went on to dominate play for most of the second half until the home side mounted a surge with 20 minutes left.
Leicester City, coming off only their second loss of the season, a 0-1 away defeat to Liverpool on Boxing Day, looked impressive, containing the offensive firepower of Manchester City, who now sit in third place with 36 points.
Manchester City’s Kompany out for at least a month: Pellegrini
Manchester City are looking at another month without captain Vincent Kompany after the defender suffered a second degree tear in his calf during Saturday’s 4-1 Premier League win over Sunderland, manager Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed.
Tuesday’s goalless draw against second place Leicester was Manchester City’s first clean sheet in the league this season without their Belgian captain. The result also meant City finished the year in third.
Kompany has missed more than half of City’s league games this season, playing in nine out of the 19, and hobbled off within 10 minutes of appearing as a second half substitute against Sunderland.
He had not played a game since the trip to Aston Villa in early November in what was City’s last clean sheet.
“Vincent has an injury, second degree on his calf so we’ll see how many weeks he will be out,” Pellegrini told reporters after the Leicester game. “I do not think it will be less than three-four weeks.
“I am not a doctor, but with a muscle injury, it will be very difficult for him to be back in less than four weeks. “But without him, we must continue to defend as did tonight. We did more than Leicester to win the game.”
Manchester City begin the new year with games against eight place Watford in the league, followed by trips to Everton for a League Cup match and to Norwich in the FA Cup – all within a week.
