Grealish on target as Man City Deepen Leicester woes

Jack Grealish scored his first Premier League goal in almost 16 months as Manchester City moved into fourth place with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City, pushing the visitors closer to relegation.

Making his first league start since December, Grealish finished a second-minute cutback from Savinho to open the scoring at the Etihad Stadium. The early goal came while hundreds of home fans were still outside the ground, protesting against anticipated season ticket price rises and a new commercial deal with ticket resale agency Viagogo.

Omar Marmoush, leading the attack in place of injured Erling Haaland, doubled City’s lead just before the half-hour mark. The Egyptian forward fired in off the underside of the bar after Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen failed to hold Ruben Dias’ chipped ball into the penalty area.

City manager Pep Guardiola watched from the stands while serving a touchline ban, as his side recorded their seventh consecutive league win against Leicester.

For the Foxes, the defeat extends their woeful run to 14 losses in their past 15 league games. They remain 12 points from safety with just eight games remaining and have become only the fourth side in English top-flight history to lose seven consecutive games without scoring.

Grealish, operating in the number 10 role behind Marmoush, took up intelligent positions throughout the match. His performance comes amid questions about his future at the club, with Guardiola previously suggesting the form of Savinho and Jeremy Doku has made it difficult for the £100m England international to secure regular playing time.

The second half saw little action of note, though there was a welcome return for Norway international Oscar Bobb, who has missed most of the season due to leg and ankle injuries.

Leicester showed little attacking threat, with their best chance coming early in the first half when Bilal El Khannouss attempted a curling effort that drifted wide. Manager Ruud van Nistelrooy’s decision to replace striker Jamie Vardy with midfielder Oliver Skipp at halftime drew criticism from supporters, but did little to change the course of the match.

With a fifth of the campaign remaining, Leicester’s immediate return to the Championship seems increasingly inevitable and could be confirmed before the end of April.