Pep Guardiola has been devoid of answers during Manchester City's remarkable slump over the past two months – and they were still illusive, even as a vital win was secured at Leicester in his 500th match in charge of the team. City arrived at the King Power Stadium having won just one of their previous 13 matches in all competitions. During that period, they have looked devoid of confidence and of just about every aspect that has made them a juggernaut in the Guardiola era.
They put a halt to their relegation form in Sunday afternoon's early kick-off, but nothing more. There was no clicking back into gear. No recovery of their trademark suffocating high press. No Kevin De Bruyne magic. No 40-pass move ending in a stunning goal. Just a run-of-the-mill, slightly fortunate victory against a relegation-threatened side.
The fear factor City used to trade on is long gone. Leicester were more than happy to go toe-to-toe with their opponent and to try and beat them at their own game. Had their stand-in goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk dealt with Phil Foden's pot-shot better and had their forwards been more clinical then the match could have gone very differently.
The deadly finishing of Haaland is now a thing of the past. He blasted a brilliant chance straight at Stolarczyk's from De Bruyne's cut-back before dragging another effort wide of the near post after skinning Jannik Vestegaard. The Norwegian did make the game safe with a free header, but his past self could have bagged a hat-trick.
