Manchester City kept up their push for a Champions League spot with a goal from Jack Grealish, which was his first goal in the Premier League in 16 months.

Grealish, who has had to settle for supporting roles this season under Pep Guardiola, scored his first league goal since December 2023 and played the best game of his career. That player, who cost £100 million, might have to leave City this summer if he wants to play often and get back into England’s squad for the World Cup in the US next year.

But for now, Grealish is focused on helping City get back into the Champions League. With this easy win, Guardiola’s team moved up one spot to fourth place. This was Leicester’s eighth straight loss, bringing them one step closer to their inevitable fate of being sent back to the Championship after a season back in the Premier League.

City’s star striker Erling Haaland was hurt, but this was the kind of game where they didn’t need their 30-goal scorer, because the other team was so good. City was in fifth place and Bournemouth was in tenth, so Guardiola’s team had to win to keep their hopes alive of getting back into Europe’s top club tournament.

The City manager made six changes to the team that beat Bournemouth 2-1 on Sunday. The win put the Blues in their seventh straight FA Cup semi-final. Nico O’Reilly got to start because of how well he played, and left Grealish started a Premier League game for the first time since December 21.

Guardiola was banned from the sidelines for one game because he got too many yellow cards, so his assistant, Juanma Lillo, had to give orders from the technical area. City took the lead in the first two minutes, making Lillo’s job easier. Jeremy Doku sped forward and found Savinho, who cut the ball back for Grealish to score with a side-footed finish into the far corner.

There were angry City fans who decided to stay on the stadium concourse until the ninth minute and missed the goal. City fans spoke out against the club’s relationship with Viagogo, which was the ninth outside ticketing site they used. Fans were worried about how prices and sales were handled.

In the 30th minute, Omar Marmoush doubled City’s lead by being the first player to react after Leicester’s goalkeeper Mads Hermansen dropped the ball. His shot hit the bottom of the bar and in. Leicester was being pushed around, and three minutes later, Jamie Vardy lost it and hacked down Marmoush, getting a yellow card for his mean behavior.

The Leicester captain didn’t come out for the second half because he had been booked, which made him a risk. Oliver Skipp came in instead. Oscar Bobb finally played again after missing a lot of time with a broken leg during the preseason. He came on as a substitute for Savinho in the 85th minute and got a big cheer from the home fans.

Even though City couldn’t score any more goals in the second half, the win kept the soon-to-be-dethroned winners on track to play in the winners League for a 15th straight year.

If you join our new WhatsApp group, you’ll get daily Mirror Football material. People in our group also get special deals, ads, and offers from us and our partners. You can leave our group whenever you want if you don’t like it. You can read our Privacy Notice if you’re interested.