Manchester City continued their march to the Premier League title with a 5-1 victory Saturday evening against Leicester City.
Despite being tied 1-1 at halftime, Sergio Aguero's second-half performance alongside Kevin De Bruyne's three assists catapulted the hosts backs to winning ways after a draw last time out against Burnley.
Early Redemption
Raheem Sterling took no time at all to redeem himself after his terrible miss at Burnley last weekend. The English midfielder got on the end of Kevin De Bruyne's in swinger from the left flank and tapped home the opening goal of the match just three minutes into the first half.
Despite having the majority of possession in the half, Manchester City were failing to create much of anything in the middle.
The Foxes did an excellent job of clogging up the middle of the field and forcing the hosts to resort to playing on the edges and playing in many crosses.
Surprise Response
Leicester City's first shot on goal in the match came in the 23rd minute, which just happened to be the shot that equalized the match.
Nicolas Otamendi's wayward pass got to the feet of Jamie Vardy, who charged up the midfield, beat a lunging Ilkay Gundogan and slotted a shot through the legs of Aymeric Laporte and into the back of the net.
Second Half Steamroll
The Blues once again took no time to score at the beginning of a half, breaking the deadlock in the 48th minute.
De Bruyne's low cross found Sergio Aguero who had split the two defenders to reach the end of the cross and put it home to give Pep Guardiola's men a 2-1 advantage.
Aguero got his second goal in just five minutes in the 53rd minute. Leicester were sloppy in their own half, which lead to a poor clearance from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The ball was quickly played into Aguero on the right side of the penalty box, where his shot was partially saved by the Leicester keeper but bounced in to give Aguero a five-minute brace and give the hosts a 3-1 lead.
Sergio Aguero completed his second-half hat-trick in the 77th minute, when the Argentine took a gift and extended the Blues' lead to 4-1. Kasper Schmeichel's pass to his defender was slow and off the mark, and Aguero stole the ball with ease and lobbed it over Schmeichel's head to complete his hat-trick.
The Manchester City legend wasn't done at three. Aguero unleashed a rocket of a shot from just outside the box in the 90th minute to score his fourth goal of the second half. Aguero's goal rocketed the crossbar and fell over the line to give the hosts a fifth goal.
City Returns
Riyad Mahrez, who's move to the Etihad on transfer deadline day was denied by Leicester City, returned to action when he was substituted on in the second half. The Algerian star was applauded by both sets of supporters. Mahrez wasn't the only Leicester player to be cheered by both sets of supporters.
Former Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho received a very warm welcome back by the Manchester City fans.