Savinho and Haaland find answers to Manchester City’s problems at Leicester
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It was not without the kind of faults that have become the norm of late but Pep Guardiola finally rebooted his winning Manchester City machine in his 500th match in charge. “City are back,” came the chants from the away end at the final whistle. Erling Haaland sealed victory, heading in to cap a slick move, kickstarted by the substitute James McAtee. City flicked through gears they have struggled to find in recent weeks, shifting the ball from right to left and Haaland, played onside by Conor Coady, powered in unmarked after meeting Savinho’s cross.
![[Erling Haaland heads in Manchester City's second goal.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b462abf9a57086b490e41b1f075a7eb6f883d8ae/0_77_4806_2883/master/4806.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Savinho got City up and running, feasting on the rebound of a bouncing Phil Foden shot, parried by the Leicester goalkeeper, Jakub Stolarczyk, but City’s second win in 14 matches, and second clean sheet in as many games, was anything but routine. Still, a year that began with a 32-game unbeaten run en route to a fourth Premier League title ended in familiar fashion.
City led from the 21st minute but there was no comfort blanket until Haaland’s header after 74. Jamie Vardy’s presence proved unsettling, the striker, who turns 38 in a fortnight, returning to the starting lineup to lead Leicester’s attack and kept Nathan Aké on his toes. Vardy punched the visitors’ crossbar and ended tangled in the goal net after lifting a shot over from Stephy Mavididi’s sumptuous cross. Vardy slithered between Aké, who was replaced by Kyle Walker midway through the second half, and Manuel Akanji but could not get his effort on target. Vardy was the catalyst for the move that prompted Akanji to prevent James Justin from surely hooking the ball in minutes earlier.
