Erling Haaland was in awe as a magnificent Kevin De Bruyne goal helped Manchester City get the better of Leicester City.
Guardiola’s side were without Erling Haaland at the King Power Stadium after the Norwegian failed to recover from an ankle injury.
Haaland had started all but one game this season after joining from Borussia Dortmund, scoring 22 goals in all competitions.
They were bound to miss the 22-year-old with a remarkable 17 goals in 11 Premier League games and his absence looked like it may be a key factor as Leicester erected a blue wall of defensive defiance from the kick-off, then invited Manchester City to break it down.
It is at times like this the big players make a big difference – step forward Kevin de Bruyne.
The player who still arguably exerts the greatest influence on Manchester City’s overall strategy produced this attritional game’s match-winning moment and put Pep Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions back on top of the table with a narrow 1-0 victory.
LopWhen Jack Grealish was hauled down by Nampalys Mendy four minutes after half-time, the peerless Belgian stepped up to curve a magnificent 25-yard free-kick with his right foot that was tantalisingly out of the reach of the excellent Danny Ward, glancing off the frame of the goal before nestling in the back of the net.
It was a quite brilliant moment from the Belgian, who once again demonstrated his outstanding technique from a dead ball situation.
Posting on Twitter moments after the goal, Haaland tagged team-mate De Bruyne and simply added a heart-eyes emoji. The striker’s enjoyment of the goal was shared by a number of fans, with praise pouring in for the Belgium international.
“Context: KDB is the best midfielder in the world,” wrote one fan. Another called the midfielder an “artist,” while many others used the opportunity to wish Haaland a speedy recovery.
Haaland will not be playing this midweek seen as City have already guaranteed top spot in their Champions League group, but Guardiola says their home game against Fulham on Saturday 5 November is a possibility.
Asked when his striker will return, Guardiola said: ‘I don’t know. He has ligament damage. He feels better, we will know more week.
‘He won’t play against Sevilla because we’ve already qualified and hopefully against Fulham he can help us.
‘If not he might play against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.’
Guardiola will be happy to give Haaland a further rest in the coming days as he said the forward was not only suffering with his ankle problem at Dortmund, but also with tiredness and a fever.
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