Sooner or later this Premier League season will have to give up the secret of its May destiny, but not on this night and not at a King Power stadium which has seen some remarkable sights in the last four months. Manchester City survived the ordeal, and the title dream of Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester team remains intact and yet neither could say they were happy with the evening’s work.
We have reached the 19-game halfway point of the season with the top four riding in a tight peloton and just four points separating, Arsenal, Leicester, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur from one another. They are an unlikely gang of four-combination from whom, history tells us, one will prevail and by the way Joe Hart went over to applaud the travelling support at the end of the game, perhaps it was the away side who felt they had the best of a goalless draw.
Kasper Schmeichel made some impressive saves
Certainly, in the closing stages it was Leicester who pushed that bit harder, Ranieri’s five man midfield ditched for a more attacking two-man attack of Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa, a wonderful bit of skill from Riyad Mahrez at the end. Leicester are denied the lead of the Premier League at the halfway stage by virtue of Arsenal’s superior goal-difference, in fact the same three-goal margin that Arsene Wenger’s team prevailed by at the King Power in September.
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It is indicative of how much is expected of Leicester that this might be classed as an opportunity missed against the club with the most formidable squad in the division. Manchester City still look as if they have the capacity to be better, especially when Sergio Aguero and David Silva – both substituted again – find the form that has eluded them thus far when they return from injury.
Manuel Pellegrini’s team are just three points behind Leicester and ready to pounce. They had the best of the first half at the King Power but could not put Ranieri’s team away and back Leicester after the break. There were some fine saves from Hart and in the centre of defence, Nicolasd Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala restricted Jamie Vardy as well as anyone does these days.
Jamie Vardy went close in the first half
With five in the Leicester midfield, there were times when Vardy felt a long way from the rest of his team-mates and obliged to wage a solo campaign against Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi, the two giants at the heart of the Manchester City defence.
Leicester’s No 9 came alive in the final stages of the first half with two chances and a run that took him past Otamendi with the Argentinian indicating his helplessness as the striker accelerated away. But before then it was slow going for Leicester and they had to settle for long periods without the ball.
Riyad Mahrez keeps the ball away from David Silva
Manuel Pellegrini’s team targeted Leicester’s left side and they had some returns there with Bacary Sagna supporting Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling. The Englishman cut one back to De Bruyne on 18 minutes and he forced the first save out of Kasper Schmeichel with a right-footed shot.
Sterling took another from Sagna, a looped ball in from the wing that the former controlled on his chest and hit early before it reached the ground. They were chances but they were not much to show for the away team’s work. They never really put together a good sequence of pressure in the first half and they never got Sergio Aguero in a position where he could test Schmeichel.
Joe Hart bellows instructions
At different times, Claudio Ranieri’s team were forced to defend over the first 30 minutes but they emerged from it well to create two chances in the last five minutes of the half that you might have expected them to convert. The first was a cross from Fuchs from the left, one of his first runs beyond the halfway line, which was too far away from Vardy and fractionally too quick for Marc Albrighton, rushing to meet it at the back post.
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The second came less than a minute later when Fernandinho dawdled on the ball inside his own half, missed a drag-back and had the ball nudged away from him by Vardy, whose hunting instincts had put him in close proximity. Danny Drinkwater toed it back to his team-mate and suddenly Vardy was in on goal – the full-sprint, defender in pursuit, goalkeeper advancing.
Vardy feels the force of one City player's boot
So any times this season he has taken these chances but on this occasion the ball was carelessly lifted over Joe Hart’s bar. It had been the first time in the half Vardy had been able to run on goal. Later, when he whipped past Otamendi out on the left he was too far from goal to cause any damage to the opposition.
Attacking stats
The home support were unhappy with what they regarded as a lenient tendency from referee Craig Pawson, especially in the case of the treatment that was meted out to Riyad Mahrez, a fairly marginalised figure before the break. He was brought down by a posse of pursuing Manchester City players on one occasion with at least one foul, possibly two between them.
Augero appeals for a penalty after heavy challenge from Inler
Eventually, Aleksandar Kolarov was booked for a bodycheck on Mahrez which the Serbian had lined up from some distance out. Before then Mahrez had played in Albrighton down the left for a good chance on the hour, which Hart had saved. N’Golo Kante had a hit a decent shot minutes earlier. Leicester had warmed to the second half the quicker of the two sides.
Pellegrini reacted by bringing off Aguero and then David Silva in relatively quick succession. Aguero had wanted a penalty for a challenge earlier in the second half and had not been indulged. He reacted to his substitution by tossing his gloves to the floor and taking a slow walk off which he interrupted only to berate the fourth official Mike Jones by the touchline.
Raheem Sterling attempts to shield the ball for Manchester City against Leicester
Gokhan Inler, making his first league start since Sept 19 was replaced by Leonardo Ulloa which meant that Leicester switched to a more attacking 4-4-2. Ulloa won a free-kick on the right side which Mahrez rolled to Fuchs and the Austrian unleashed a fine shot that Hart had to react to quickly. That was Leicester’s last chance of the night, but you they never stopped pushing.
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