City Set New Club Record With Villa Triumph
Brendan Rodgers was able to bring Ben Chilwell back into his side, while Dennis Praet and Kelechi Iheanacho were also handed spots in the starting XI.
An end-to-end opening 10 minutes saw James Maddison and Jamie Vardy have attempts on goal, with the latter forcing Tom Heaton into the first stop of the game, while Vardy had to do some defending at the other end to block Jack Grealish’s effort.
The encounter, after a heavy downpour of rain, eventually settled down before City went ahead on the 20-minute mark through Vardy, who at the second time of asking converted past Heaton following a brilliant chop and pass from Iheanacho.
Anwar El Ghazi had an opportunity to restore parity in Birmingham, but directed his header off target, before City took control of the match thanks to Iheanacho’s smart finish from a Maddison cross.
City appeared to be heading into half-time two goals up, only for Grealish to curl in off the post to halve the deficit for the hosts and get his side back into the game.
Villa’s goal did not affect the Foxes, though, as they emerged from the interval determined to register their eighth Premier League win on the bounce.
It was Jonny Evans who put Rodgers’ outfit 3-1 up just four minutes into the second period, as he headed Maddison’s corner back across goal and into Heaton’s net.
Goalscoring opportunities continued to come for the visiting side, who saw Maddison, Youri Tielemans and substitute Harvey Barnes lift efforts over.
However, a fourth goal finally arrived through Vardy, who brought a fine pass from Praet under control and then slotted into the bottom corner for his 16th Premier League goal in as many 2019/20 outings.
A brilliant point-blank save from Heaton then denied Turkey international Çağlar Söyüncü, while Barnes also had an effort turned away in injury time.
Major moment
All eyes were on Leicester at the start of the second half to see if they were able to cope with the pressure of conceding just before the interval.
Not only did they do that, they immediately added to their scoreline thanks to a superb header from Jonny Evans, and that proved vital in the overall result.
Who impressed?
Gerry Taggart told LCFC Radio: “I can’t give it to Ricardo Pereira again, he’s had it the last two! I wish I could because I love watching him.
“I’ve made my mind up. I’m going to have to go with the man who started his first game for the first time in a long time and that’s Kelechi Iheanacho.
“He set the goal up for Jamie Vardy and then scored the second, and by that stage the damage was done. He looked a different player today.”
Where do we stand?
City’s eighth Premier League win in a row sees them open up a six-point gap to third-placed Manchester City, and 14 points above Manchester United in fifth.
Leicester are now eight points behind leaders Liverpool, and have a goal difference of +29 after just 16 games.
Coming up…
The Foxes’ next challenge arrives in the form of Norwich City, who visit King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday 14 December (3pm kick-off) before they contest a Carabao Cup Quarter-Final tie with Everton at Goodison Park four days later (7:45pm kick-off).
All times GMT.