Leicester City succumbed to the qualities and dark arts of Pep Guardiola’s side leaving their top 4 aspirations still with work to do.
Even with a standard victory for Manchester City, Leicester’s ultra-defensive style was probably the right approach to try and gain some valuable points. Mendy and Jesus scored the decisive goals with their fluid attack and aggressive pressing. Brendan Rodgers men just weren’t good enough to win today, but don’t be completely fooled by the hyperbole heaped on Pep’s men. There are other elements to their game that have seen them rise to the top. Can Leicester City learn anything from them? Here’s where the key decisions decided the game.
VAR IS WORKING
The silence of VAR complaints is normally a sign that we’re settling into it and it’s working well. Sergio Aguero was in the eye line of Kasper Schmeichel as Fernandinho’s shot hit the back of the net and was rightly flagged offside. Just before half time Leicester had their own offside call with Man City’s high line and Jamie Vardy’s overly eager run punished after he had comfortably dispatched his opportunity. No complaints on either, VAR is not ruining football. Please click below for the next page.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE – GREAT PLAYER, GREATER MOANER
As with all great players there will be an annoyance at how often they are fouled and stopped in their flow of silky elegance. He made some great passes in the game and was on form but that’s not what many people will remember. De Bruyne started the game wound up as if the Leicester players had been slide tackling him during the warm-up. Such was his petulance he quickly became the most annoying player on the pitch. Every time a Leicester City player got close, he hit the deck and was begging for a yellow card. This seemed to be a trait that was contagious in the Citizens ranks with Gabriel Jesus adopting the look of injustice far more than was needed.
After smashing a shot high over the bar De Bruyne screamed at the ref for a foul by Ndidi who barely seemed to have done anything, Anthony Taylor duly obliged much to the Foxes frustration. De Bruyne subsequently hit the bar from his free hit with the footballing world ready to point the finger.
Not long after Wilfred Ndidi was booked deep in the Man City half for a foul on the Belgian. The only annoyance with this yellow was that Kevin De Bruyne got away with wiping out Jamie Vardy right at the start of the game as he was breaking free on the left wing. Anthony Taylor wasn’t interested in booking the man that screams for yellow cards though strangely.
This moaning continued throughout and possibly led to Daniel Amartey petulantly giving De Bruyne’s unmovable hair a ruffle late on. The reaction from De Bruyne was nothing short of pathetic as he screamed in pain and then ironically leapt up pain-free ready to fight the Ghanaian. A red card for that could have been argued with arms raised, although it definitely wasn’t a punch and when you consider what James Maddison was putting up with a few moments earlier I know what I’d rather red cards be given for.
FERNANDINHO – OH THE IRONY
Manchester City’s complaining and petulance could be ignored if it wasn’t for the biggest contradiction in their team, everyone’s favourite tactical fouler Fernandinho. After committing some key fouls in the first half Fernandinho got away without any yellows. The most perplexing one was in the first half when Ayoze Perez was in a dangerous position in Man City’s half and after being chopped down Anthony Taylor gave nothing more than a free kick.
You may see this as me splitting hairs in a game that Leicester never looked like winning but with Wilfred Ndidi having to walk on eggshells for the rest of the game he would have had to be very careful diving into challenges, a key part of his and Leicester’s game. Fernandinho does the same job for Manchester City and that he was afforded this freedom allowed him to dive in constantly and unnecessarily smash into the just returned from injury James Maddison leaving him rightly furious as Fernandinho cockily laughed in his face. Kyle Walker followed suit not long after and stamped on Maddison’s foot and again was bizarrely allowed this with no yellow card.
Yellow cards are a referee’s prerogative as they see fit, but yesterday’s example of managing the game became more farcical and inconsistent throughout. It’s clearly subjective and the ref needs to decide, but all games seem littered with bizarre yellow card calls that affect the game more than we realise. The questions it raises seem endless and the answers evasive.
Is the on-pitch referee the best judge of what a yellow card should be? What constitutes persistent fouling? three? four? five fouls? Where is a dangerous area of the pitch to be fouling? Is early on in the game a free pass for a tactical foul? (rewind a few years to see Vincent Kompany’s first few minutes yellow for chopping down a through on goal Jamie Vardy for peak madness)
The way the champions-elect play their football doesn’t need to be further indulged with leniency that they don’t deserve, especially when their star player is screaming for yellow cards that his Brazilian teammate is getting away with. The tactical fouling by Manchester City was spelt out by former assistant manager Mikel Arteta during the All Or Nothing: Manchester City documentary two years ago
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It’s about time the authorities woke up to this blatant game management or perhaps Leicester City need to adopt some of these nastier traits if they are to reach the next level of the footballing elite. Time will tell.