Manchester City edge Leicester in Controversial Encounter to boost Top 4 Aspirations

Gabriel Jesus

Manchester City took a step closer towards guaranteeing a top-four finish in the English Premier League with a 2-1 win over Leicester City at Etihad Stadium, but were helped by a disallowed Riyad Mahrez penalty.

Goals from David Silva and Gabriel Jesus were enough for Pep Guardiola‘s side to make it back-to-back wins in the top flight, despite a fine strike from Shinji Okazaki for the visitors. Mahrez saw his converted second-half spot kick ruled out for touching the ball twice as Leicester pushed for an equaliser, but Manchester City held firm for an important, if not wholly convincing, victory. Leicester, who saw their title officially taken from them by Chelsea on Friday, won the reverse fixture in December 4-2 but found themselves behind in controversial fashion here.

Silva’s second goal in as many games was allowed to stand despite uncertainty over whether Raheem Sterling had made contact with the ball from an offside position as it found the net. Jesus’ penalty doubled the lead before Okazaki halved the deficit shortly before the break, and although Mahrez thought he had levelled the scores in the final 15 minutes, his penalty was disallowed after he touched the ball twice.

The victory moves Manchester City onto 72 points and above Liverpool into third in the table, with a six-point cushion between them and fifth-place Arsenal ahead of their trip to Stoke City.

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