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Jack Grealish scored his first Premier League goal in almost 16 months as Manchester City moved up to fourth in the table with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City.
Man City will be without Erling Haaland for up to seven weeks due to an ankle injury, but the absence of their leading goalscorer proved only a minor inconvenience on Wednesday night.
Grealish's first league goal since December 2023 put them ahead early on before Omar Marmoush struck following a mix-up in the Leicester backline.
Man City were unable to further extend their lead despite dominating throughout, but the victory takes them above Chelsea, who face Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.
Leicester remain 19th, 12 points adrift of 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, with just eight games remaining.
How the match unfolded
Man City needed less than two minutes to go ahead. Following Jeremy Doku's driving run, Savinho's intelligent cutback found Grealish, and he side-footed home.
Bilal El Khannouss curled just wide to cap a rare Leicester foray, but City scored their second goal in the 29th minute. A calamitous mix-up between Mads Hermansen and Wout Faes saw the ball drop straight to Marmoush, who rifled a shot off the woodwork and in.
Hermansen earned a measure of redemption by turning Savinho's strike over the crossbar seven minutes later as the Foxes made it to half-time without suffering further damage.
City continued to monopolise possession after the break, with talented youngster Nico O'Reilly seeing an outside-of-the-boot attempt blocked by Faes.
Marmoush perhaps should have put City 3-0 up when he turned Doku's cutback over on the hour mark, but for the most part the hosts were content to simply play in front of Leicester.
It all amounted to a routine success for Pep Guardiola's team, who avoided a slip-up in the race for UEFA Champions League qualification.
Man City share the load
With Haaland likely to miss at least four more Premier League games with the ankle injury he suffered in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth, several Man City attackers have a chance to stake a claim for a regular starting spot.
Since Haaland arrived in 2022, City had only lost two of the 15 league matches that he had missed, so they have shown an ability to cope without him.
Marmoush led the line here, and he followed up his winner at Vitality Stadium with a crashing finish to put City two goals up – his fifth goal in eight Premier League games.
The Egyptian's change of position also meant Grealish was given a chance to impress in a central role, making his first Premier League start of 2025. He repaid Guardiola's faith with his first goal in the competition in over a year, lpreviously netting in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in December 2023.
Another positive was O'Reilly making his first Premier League start, and the 20-year-old produced a composed performance just three days after assisting both goals in Man City's quarter-final triumph.
City still have plenty to play for in the league and the cup, so Guardiola will be delighted to see some members of his supporting cast step up. Next up on Sunday is the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
Toothless Foxes beaten again
A trip to the Etihad Stadium always appeared a daunting prospect for Leicester, who had lost 13 of their last 14 Premier League games and fell 12 points adrift of the dotted line when Wolves beat West Ham United 1-0 on Tuesday.
But boss Ruud van Nistelrooy remained bullish in the build-up to the game, insisting the Foxes would not go down without a fight.
Although losing to City is no disgrace, Van Nistelrooy will not have been pleased about the meek manner of their defeat, conceding after just 109 seconds and failing to lay a glove on their hosts thereafter.
When captain Jamie Vardy was replaced by Oliver Skipp in a defensive half-time change, it was clear the visitors were playing a game of damage limitation. Vardy only had eight touches before coming off, as he failed to make his mark.
El Khannouss's early curler was one of just two shots attempted by Leicester, and they have now lost their last seven Premier League games in a row, all to nil. Only Crystal Palace (eight in a row in 2017) have ever lost more successive games without scoring in the competition.
Things may not get any easier for Leicester, either, with their next three fixtures pitting them against Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool.
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