Throwback Thursday: The fixture which won Leicester the league

 

 

Saturday evening’s clash between Manchester City and Leicester could be pivotal in the title race. 

 

Pep Guardiola’s side could go to within three points of league leaders Arsenal with a win here, prior to the Gunners’ London derby with West Ham on Sunday. This would help them to keep within touching distance of Mikel Arteta’s team, ahead of the pairs meeting in less than two weeks and even more importantly with this being City’s last league game before that aforementioned fixture.

 

They come up against a Leicester side who of course have their own priorities to worry about, sitting in 19th coming into the weekend, potentially five points off Everton, who play at 3pm, who are currently 17th ahead of this next round of fixtures. 

 

This no doubt poses a test in itself for City, as so many of these teams who are fighting relegation often do to the rest of the league at this stage of a season. 

 

It was just over seven years ago however when this exact fixture at the Etihad proved a huge clash in the title race not just for City, but for the Foxes too. 

 

After 24 games played, Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester side were sitting top of the table on 50 points, having only lost twice, with the best away record in the division. For City, they were just three points adrift of the then league leaders and knew a win in the match between these side’s would take them top on goal difference. 

 

This matchup was the first game of that weekend, kicking off at 12:45 on the Saturday. Both sides looked almost unrecognisable compared to how they do today, though one player playing for the opposite side played a key part in the outcome of this game. 

 

Riyad Mahrez, playing for Leicester at the time and one of their star players, lined up on the right-hand side of a four-man midfield where he dictated the game and helped to sway the outcome towards the Foxes. 

 

It did not take him long to make an impact too. After just three minutes, his one key pass of the match resulted in an assist for Robert Huth, after Mahrez had lofted in a free-kick into a dangerous area. 

 

Shortly after the break and the Algerian got in on the scoring act himself, being fed through by N’Golo Kante after a counter-attacking move, Mahrez avoided a challenge, did a step-over to buy himself time and with his only shot of the game, powered an effort with his weaker foot into the top corner to give Leicester a 2-0 lead. 

 

It was dream land stuff for Ranieri’s side just over ten minutes later when they were 3-0 up with centre-back Huth scoring his second of the game from a Christian Fuchs corner. A Sergio Aguero headed goal late on wasn’t enough to salvage anything for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, as the game finished 3-1. 

 

Huth, as would be expected after scoring a brace and putting in a solid defensive shift, earned the WhoScored MotM (9.28) that day, but Mahrez (8.85) wasn’t far behind with his performance. Up against his future teammates, as well as his two goal contributions, the winger managed to complete more dribbles (5) than any other player on the pitch, won an aerial duel and wasn’t dispossessed once in the match.

 

Leicester ended the weekend five points clear of second place Tottenham, after City had dropped to fourth, six points behind the Foxes. Though Arsenal beat Leicester the weekend after, which really opened the title race up, to just two points between first and third, that win at the Etihad did play a massive part in making a statement to the rest of the league, that they weren’t just here to dream, but to live the fairytale.

 

 

The season of course ended with the massive underdogs winning the league and Mahrez ending as the Premier League’s top-rated player (7.84) with 28 goal contributions to his name, behind only teammate Jamie Vardy (30), and more WhoScored MotM’s (10) than anyone else.

 

Mahrez may not be one of the first names on the teamsheet at the Etihad at the minute, but he is still very much a key figure in the squad and had a really positive start to 2023. Though his goal contributions have slowed somewhat compared to the start of the calendar year, mainly due to less frequent action on the pitch, owing to Guardiola’s system changes in recent weeks, the Algerian winger still has the quality to be an influential figure in this City team and could be the difference in them getting the win on Saturday. 

 

Whether Mahrez starts or not is a different matter, but the main concern from a Citizens point of view, is that a win here could be the win which really makes the case that the title is theirs for the taking, just as it did for the Foxes when they beat City in 2016.

Throwback Thursday: The fixture which won Leicester the league