LONDON – A stunning free kick from Kevin De Bruyne earned Manchester City a 1-0 victory at Leicester City, as Liverpool suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Leeds United in the English Premier League.
Chelsea was beaten 4-1 by Brighton, in a game that saw Chelsea boss Graham Potter booed by the home fans.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah had canceled Rodrigo’s early opener with a 14th-minute equaliser before the hosts lost it all in the 89th minute.
The win for the visitors helped them move out of the Premier League relegation zone and Liverpool’s top-four hopes.
With top goal-scorer Erling Haaland missing a Premier League game for the first time since arriving at City through injury, the visitors lacked a cutting edge in the first half, with Leicester containing them with ease.
It was clear it would take something special to unlock the determined hosts, with Belgian midfielder De Bruyne stepping up, firing an unstoppable free kick into the net four minutes after the break to put City in front.
Leicester responded well and has a chance to level through a stunning volley from De Bruyne’s Belgium team mate Youri Tielemans, but City goalkeeper Ederson brilliantly tipped the thunderbolt of a strike onto the crossbar.
“The free kick goes perfectly, luckily it’s 1-0,” De Bruyne told BT Sport according to Reuters. “Ederson has been great, sometimes we only talk about his distribution but he’s a great keeper and he proves it every week.
“We have proved we can win with or without Erling Haaland.”
Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers could not hide his delight that Haaland, who has 17 league goals from just 11 starts this season, was missing.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sliding on my knees when I heard he (Haaland) wasn’t playing,” he said pre-match, before seeing his side keep City at bay in the opening period.
The hosts came into the contest on the back of three successive clean sheets, and restricted City to half chances early on. With Bernardo Silva’s angled shot well saved, it was the champions’ only real opening of note before the break.
There was absolutely nothing anyone could have done to keep De Bruyne’s third league goal of the season out, however, as he curled an unstoppable free kick into the top corner.
“It’s not about the assist that Kevin always has, or the free kick. I know he has these qualities, the last few games he was not himself,” City boss Pep Guardiola said.
“He needs his dynamic, when he can move in different pockets. What can I say about Kevin? Everyone knows him.”
City was comfortable in their lead and never looked in danger of suffering a second league loss of the season.
City has now kept a clean sheet in six of their 12 games this season, which is better than all other Premier League teams.
“There were times where you felt like you didn’t touch the ball for 10 minutes but that’s what it’s like when you play against one of the best teams in the world,” Leicester’s James Maddison told BT Sport.
Liverpool suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Leeds United after Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville’s 89th minute strike in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday that took the visitors out of the relegation zone.
The Reds’ first top-flight home loss in 30 games follows last week’s defeat at bottom side Nottingham Forest and further deepens the crisis around the struggling Merseyside club, who are ninth in the table on 16 points after 12 games.
The win takes Leeds up to 15th on 12 points.
Liverpool got off to another disastrous start after four minutes when Joe Gomez played a blind backpass to Alisson who had moved out of his goal and slipped, leaving a gaping space for Rodrigo to run in and tap the ball into the empty net.
Mohamed Salah levelled for Liverpool 10 minutes later when Andy Robertson crossed for the Egyptian international to hook a volley into the net from close range, igniting the Liverpool supporters as their team began the chase for a winner.
Leeds continued to threaten on the break, though, and Brenden Aaronson almost put them back in front a few minutes later, meeting Rasmus Kristensen’s cross from the right with a deft volley that cannoned off the crossbar.
Leeds French keeper Illan Meslier kept his side in the game almost single-handedly in the second half, pulling off a superb save from Darwin Nunez in a one-on-one after 67 minutes and then clawing away a shot from the same player 11 minutes later.
Meslier’s saves set the scene for Summerville to steal the three points with a last-gasp poacher’s finish.
On the eve of his 21st birthday, the forward snapped up a ball in the box from Patrick Bamford and quickly pulled the trigger, firing across Alisson and into the net for the winner.
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