While Pep Guardiola‘s side rightly felt we dominated through the 90 minutes, the difference between the sides in the end was a matter of inches.
Kevin De Bruyne‘s exquisite second half free-kick deflected off the post and into Danny Ward’s goal for the only goal of the match.
However, City had been dominant from the first whistle at the King Power with Brendan Rodgers asking his side to defend deep and look to spring counterattacks when possible.
Here we’ll take a look at the stats from an intriguing 90 minutes...
BALL CONTROL
City were in possession of the ball for 64% of the match, almost two thirds of the total.
With the ball, we played 622 successful passes compared to the 309 of Leicester.
A whopping 456 of those 622 passes came in Leicester’s half, showing just how high up the pitch we were.
It was also exceptionally difficult for Leicester to escape up the pitch, with only 71 of their passes finding their men in City’s half.
The below graphic shows that only goalkeeper Ederson spent more time in the City half than Leicester’s.
Shot total
City had 15 shots, six of which were blocked, five were on target and four were blocked.
Leicester’s resolute defending restricted those to low quality chances, with the sum of our shots reaching a total xG of just 1.03.
However, that proves City were as prolific as expected in the match.
Ederson’s concentration
He may have felt lonely for much of the match, but it was crucial our Brazilian was alert when he was called into action.
The goalkeeper’s 34 touches was the fewest of any player in City’s starting XI, with the Blues much further up the pitch searching for an opening.
However, after De Bruyne‘s strike the home side were forced to hunt for an equaliser.
That’s when he was forced to pull off an exceptional save, diverting Youri Tielemans’ dipping volley on to the bar to preserve a deserved three points.
The below graphic shows that Ederson had little to do until Leicester came on strong in the closing stages...
Season stats
City now have 29 points with nine wins and two draws from our 12 matches.
We are by far the highest scorers in the division with 37 goals. That’s an average of more than three goals per match.
As for our defensive record, we have conceded 11 goals - the same as title rivals Arsenal.
That is only bettered by Newcastle United, who have let in 10 goals from 13 matches.
Erling Haaland continues to lead the way in terms of league scorers with 17. He’s seven ahead of nearest challenger Harry Kane.
Kevin De Bruyne is the chief creator in the division, with nine, while Rodrigo has played more passes than anyone else - his next will be his 1,000th of the season.
Our 8,211 passes as a team is more than a thousand beyond next best Liverpool.
Ederson‘s six clean sheets mean he is level with Newcastle’s Nick Pope on that metric.
