Manchester City 6-3 Leicester City
By Adam Millington
at the City of Manchester Stadium

The Boxing Day drubbings of 1963 were once again regurgitated across social media today. That pixelated Sky Sports screenshot taken many years ago has become a Christmas staple in its own right. 

From the looks of this performance, the teams on the pitch on Sunday were seemingly attempting to pay homage to that famous day 58 years ago by replicating it in the modern footballing era.

A Manchester City win seemed a forgone conclusion when the team sheets were announced, the six absences for Leicester from their midweek loss to Liverpool producing frailties in the defensive line as well as up top.

Selection was, however, markedly different for the hosts. Jack Grealish and Phil Foden – who were left out of the blues’ recent clash with Newcastle due to their behaviour off the pitch – returned to the bench. They were joined on the sidelines by 18-year-old Kayky, who joined the club for €15 million in the summer.

Complete and utter dominance is a regular sight with Pep Guardiola’s teams, but few would have expected them to lead by such a magnitude after only a quarter of the game had passed.

It is not often that a goal scored before the clock has even reaches five minutes would be described as one which ‘had been coming’, but that was definitely the case with the game’s opener on Sunday afternoon.

The blues should probably have already been in the lead after having opportunities in the Foxes’ box, but that did not come until Kevin De Bruyne brought down a well-weighted ball from Fernandinho before pivoting and curling it past the outstretched arms of Kasper Schmeichel at the far post.

For a team with no real striker on the pitch, it was somewhat surprising to see them perform so well in the final third. Bernardo Silva was utilities in the middle of a front three, but in fact it was Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez on the wings who posed the strongest threats.

Just under ten minutes after the first goal, Chris Kavanagh’s first real decision of the game was thrust upon him. With the City players clamouring for a penalty after Aymeric Laporte had been fouled in the box by Youri Tielemans, it first went to the VAR and then the referee examined the incident on the pitch-side monitor before pointing to the spot.

Mahrez stepped up and provided a true postage stamp of the penalty, firing into the top-right corner of the goal. With this, City’s dominance began to snowball and soon they went 3-0 up when Ilkay Gundogan pounced to poke in a ball which Schmeichel had failed to push far enough away from the goal.

And so when Kavanagh blew his whistle and pointed to the spot once again after another defensive blunder from Tielemans saw him clip the ankles of Raheem Sterling, the game seemed to be moving further and further away from the Foxes’ reach. Sterling converted the penalty in a similar manner to Mahrez, and a City win looked certain.

But this was a Boxing Day game – and there must be some unwritten rule which dictates that these matches must include a number of twists and turns. The scene was set for a comfortable City win, but Leicester were prepared to fight back. 

Brendan Rodgers’ men came out with a renewed sense of spirit after the break, and ten minutes after they walked out of the tunnel they produced a stunning ten minutes which put them back on track.

First, James Maddison notched one in on the break, running through the defence before collecting the ball from his strike partner to give him an open goal to shoot at.

If the first goal showed that City need to be better at defending counter-attacks, then the second and third further cemented that fact. 

Ademola Lookman halved City’s lead in the 59th minute and then, with a barrage of Leicester attacks directed at the blues’ defence, former City man Kelechi Iheanacho took advantage when Ederson pushed Maddison’s curling effort onto the bar, the Nigerian tapping in to make it 4-3.

Yet just as the tide seemed to be turning, City turned the game back into their favour. While they often struggle to convert clear-cut chances, Guardiola’s side have a propensity to pluck goals from thin air and they did just that – Laporte nodding one in to regain the hosts’ two-goal cushion.

And in the dying minutes of the second half, it was Raheem Sterling who stepped up to give this game its final special moment as he converted the ball from close range.

It will take something truly special for any game to even come close to rivalling this in the ‘Boxing Day special’ category. While neither side was particularly impressive, both put in comprehensive performances and the result was an extraordinary-entertaining game to watch.

Although Liverpool have a game in hand, Pep Guardiola will be pleased to see his side gain a six-point cushion at the top of the division as the calendar edges towards the New Year.