Story highlights
Man City outclassed at home by Leicester
Minnows now 6 points clear at top of Premiership
"It's a crazy Premier League," says Ranieri
Defender Robert Huth scores two goals
Cinderella is very much alive in the English Premier League this season.
In what could be a defining moment in Leicester City’s improbable title run, the 5,000 to one pre-season underdogs beat star-studded Manchester City on its home soil in an early Saturday kickoff.
Center back Robert Huth scored two goals en route to a 3-1 drubbing of Leicester’s second-place rivals, with six points now separating the two on the league table.
Huth put the Foxes up after just three minutes, nudging a Riyad Mahrez free kick past goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Leicester came out with guns blazing again in the second half, as Mahrez scored a thrilling goal in the 47th minute – receiving the ball 10 yards outside the box before beating two City defenders and rocketing the ball into the net.
“Even us, we didn’t expect to win here 3-1, so we’re just going to keep dreaming and see what can happen,” Mahrez said on BT Sport after the match.
One of the standout players in the league this season, the Algerian international was purchased for only £400,000 from French Ligue 2 side Le Havre in 2014.
But that’s the kind of season that Leicester is having.
Huth, of all players, scored again in the second half, drilling in a header in the 59th minute to seal the victory.
Hardly known as a goal scorer, the German – who began his career playing for Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri as a 17-year-old at Chelsea – had previously netted just 17 goals in his entire 14-year career.
Sergio Aguero’s header with three minutes to go was too little too late for the home side.
“It’s a crazy Premier League,” said Ranieri in post-match commentary, echoing the thoughts of nearly every follower of England’s top-flight. “Never were we afraid, we wanted to win here with a fresh mentality.”
Distraction?
Manchester City took the unusual step of naming its managerial successor last week, making a big-splash announcement on a three-year deal with Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola while still battling for the Premiership title.
Whether ending the speculation on the fate of current lame duck manager Manuel Pellegrini will come back to bite City remains to be seen.
“I think it was a tough defeat, we played very bad,” conceded the Chilean after the match on BT Sport. “I don’t think this is finished, we are going to continue fighting.”
The overwhelming difference in wealth backing the two sides was evident in the collective price tags of its players: Manchester City’s starting unit was purchased for £236 million ($342 million), dwarfing the £20 million ($29 million) it took to assemble Leicester’s, according to Sky Sports.
Yaya Toure – whose reported £24 million ($35 million) signing fee in 2010 exceeds that of the entire Leicester squad – was substituted early in the second half for listless play. David Silva followed him off in the 76th minute with an ankle twist.
Making history
Leicester City is in the process of making one of the most dramatic turnarounds in sports history, considering crippling debts forced the club into administration in 2002. By 2008, the Foxes had dropped all the way down to the third tier of English football. Two years later, Thai duty free magnate Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha took over as chairman, spurring Leicester’s improbable climb back to the top.
“If they win it, people will be talking about this in 100 years time,” Sky Sports analyst Paul Merson said before the match.
Former Leicester and England goalkeeper Peter Shilton was equally superlative. “To win the league, it would be the best thing that ever happened in club history, and the players would be heroes for the rest of their lives,” he said before the match.