MANCHESTER, England: Jack Grealish ended his Premier League (EPL) goal drought as Manchester City, who were without Erling Haaland, defeated struggling Leicester 2-0 early this morning to move up to fourth place.
England international Grealish struck after just two minutes – his first Premier League goal for 16 months – with Omar Marmoush also netting in the first half at the Etihad Stadium.
The victory put the reigning English champions back in the Champions League group, although they are still 22 points behind leaders Liverpool.
It also saw them perform well even without Norwegian striker Haaland, who had to be out for up to seven weeks after suffering an ankle injury during the FA Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth last Sunday.
“It wasn’t easy with 10 men defending in the penalty area,” City manager Pep Guardiola told the BBC. “We missed the third goal to be more calm, it never ended. But happy with a good performance overall.”
Manchester City needed just two minutes to take the lead against second-bottom Leicester, who have lost seven league games in a row.
Jeremy Doku and Savinho combined to break down Leicester’s defence before Grealish fired home from close range for his first league goal since December 2023.
Grealish’s long-awaited goal was not seen by hundreds of City fans, who remained outside the stadium for the first nine minutes in protest at the club’s deal with a ticket resale company.
The protestors, however, saw City double their lead in the 29th minute when Egyptian striker Marmoush fired home after Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen failed to deal with Ruben Dias’ pass.
City jumped to fourth place, one point ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle and two ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea, who face Tottenham early on Wednesday.