MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City moved back top of the Premier League with a nerve-shredding 1-0 victory over Leicester City. Pep Guardiola's side were struggling to find the breakthrough until a stunning 30-yard strike in the 70th minute from captain Vincent Kompany rescued a remarkable win.
Positives
One match, one victory required and City will be Premier League champions. With the tension growing inside the Etihad Stadium and knowing that any slip-up would hand Liverpool the advantage in the title race, they found a way to get the job done. The breakthrough came through an unlikely source, but City had found a way to win their previous 12 Premier League matches and they somehow did it again.
Negatives
Despite scoring more goals than any other English side in a season even before tonight's game, City found it incredibly difficult to create too many chances against a very well-organised Leicester side as the tension appeared to get to them at times. Brighton will be even more negative on the final day of the season and City must maintain their composure to avoid any final-day catastrophe.
Manager rating out of 10
8 -- Starting Phil Foden in City's last home game against Tottenham proved a masterstroke, but the 18-year-old found it difficult to impose himself on this game with the hard work and energy in front of Leicester's back four. With City struggling to find a breakthrough, Pep Guardiola turned to Leroy Sane 10 minutes into the second half and City looked more of a threat. His other big call was to choose Kompany as the centre-back to partner Aymeric Laporte -- mainly for his experience, not necessarily his ability to smash in goals from 30 yards!
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Ederson, 7 -- Controlled his box comfortably and was alert to balls over the top.
DF Kyle Walker, 7 -- Great energy moving forward and largely dealt with the threat of James Maddison on the wing.
DF Vincent Kompany, 9 -- Solid defensively but for a couple of typically rash challenges. Then there was his majestic and all-important strike.
DF Aymeric Laporte, 7 -- Composed performance and spread the play with his rasping cross-field passes.
DF Oleksandr Zinchenko, 6 -- Didn't know whether to stick or twist against Marc Albrighton, who played high up the pitch, but improved in the second half as City began to dominate possession.
MF Ilkay Gundogan, 8 -- Tough job with the threat of Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi playing through the middle well but stuck to his task well and kept his composure as the pressure grew.
FW Phil Foden, 6 -- Plenty of energy but he struggled to make as big an impact as in his previous match-winning performance against Spurs.
MF David Silva, 6 -- Tried to thread some balls through the organised Foxes defence but couldn't quite work his magic.
FW Bernardo Silva, 8 -- Big threat all night with his quick feet and nonstop action and had the highly rated Ben Chilwell tied up in knots.
FW Sergio Aguero, 7 -- Almost found the breakthrough with a header that struck the underside of the bar and was denied by a brilliant save from Kasper Schmeichel.
FW Raheem Sterling, 6 -- Found it difficult to find space to make the impact that has made him a match winner all season. Was more of a threat in the second period.
Substitutes
FW Leroy Sane, 6 -- Stretched Leicester by staying wide and using his pace.
FW Gabriel Jesus, N/R -- Late change to chase everything in the final five minutes.
DF John Stones, N/R -- Injury-time switch to ensure nothing slipped.