TheCable

Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez scored as Manchester City came from a goal down to defeat Leicester City, his former club, 3-1 at the Etihad stadium.

In the battle of the challengers, it was the third-placed defending champions who proved their mettle with Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus’ goals ensuring victory against Leicester, who had Super Eagles of Nigeria’s Wilfred Ndidi on the pitch for 90 minutes.

In an enthralling match, it was Leicester who drew first blood through Jamie Vardy on 22 minutes in their usual counter attacking fashion.

The Foxes repelled a City attack and launched one of theirs with Harvey Barnes feeding Vardy on the run and he glided past Fernandinho before putting the ball past Ederson Moraes for a 1-0 lead.

The advantage lasted only eight minutes as parity was restored by Mahrez, a former Leicester player. The winger was allowed space on the edge of the area and his deflected shot rolled into the back of the net.

City were relentless and the visitors caved in with Ricardo Pereira’s poor tackle hacking down Raheem Sterling for a penalty on 43 minutes.

Gundogan converted the spot kick to hand the defending champions the advantage and Ederson had to make a low save to preserve the lead at halftime.

Pep Guardiola’s side led by Kevin de Bruyne and Mahrez continued from where they left off in the second half, pelting Leicester’s defence with waves of attack but the goalkeeper and last-ditch defending kept City at bay.

De Bruyne, however, unlocked Leicester on 69 minutes. The Belgian playmaker waltzed through and set up Jesus who stabbed in at the far post for his first goal at Etihad stadium since March.

City’s win reduced the gap between the defending champions and Leicester to a point but they are still 11 points being Liverpool and have played a game more.

…New managers watch poor Everton and Arsenal

Mikel Arteta was announced as the new manager of Arsenal on Friday while Everton announced Carlo Ancelotti as coach few hours before their game against Arsenal.

Both gaffers watched from the stands amongst club directors and watched firsthand the enormity of their respective tasks.

Their respective teams played out a poor 0-0 draw with only two shots on target in 90 minutes, one in each half and both by Arsenal.

Results

Everton 0-0 Arsenal
Aston Villa 1-3 Southampton
Norwich City 1-2 Wolves
Newcastle United 1-0 Crystal Palace
Bournemouth 0-1 Burnley
Manchester City 3-1 Leicester City

Sunday’s fixtures

Watford vs Manchester United (3pm)
Tottenham vs Chelsea (5:30pm)