Grealish ends Premier League goal drought in City win over Leicester

Jack Grealish scored his first Premier League goal for 16 months as Manchester City eased to a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of Champions League qualification for next season.

Grealish netted inside two minutes and Omar Marmoush added a second goal as City moved into fourth place in the table with 51 points from 30 games. Leicester are in 19th with 17 points from the same number of matches, 12 points from relegation safety.

Pep Guardiola watched from the stands as he serves a touchline ban and what seemed like several thousand City fans missed the first nine minutes, including Grealish's goal, as they vacated their seats in protest at the club's ticket prices.

Leicester slipped to a seventh Premier League loss in a row without scoring a goal on another dire night in which they did not even manage a shot on target.

It was far from a vintage City performance but they controlled the game throughout and were helped by Grealish's early strike that settled any nerves there might have been coming into the game.

Michael Steele/Getty Images)

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Savinho picked him out in the box with a low cross after Jérémy Doku had won the ball in midfield, and Grealish stroked the ball into the back of the net from 15 metres.

City doubled their lead following a poor error from Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

The gloveman failed to collect a routine take from a cross into the box and Marmoush sent the loose ball into the net off the underside of the bar.

With Erling Haaland ruled out for seven weeks with an ankle injury, Marmoush could be a key player for City in their chase for Champions League football.

He almost scored a second goal after halftime, having been picked out in the box by Jeremy Doku, but fired over the crossbar.

The game fizzled out in the second half, with Leicester happy to keep the score down and City failing to find any fluency in attack.