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Jamie Vardy (Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola accepted Manchester city they lost their composure like Jamie Vardy get a hat-trick on Leicester’s wonderful 5-2 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Guardiola’s men went ahead after four minutes thanks to a thunderous shot from Riyad Mahrez.
But that was for the best for City, as Vardy shattered Guardiola’s crisp defense with his pace and movement.
Kyle Walker’s foul on Vardy led to a penalty that the forward converted before the break.
Vardy struck again with a good shot in the second half and scored another penalty after being fouled by Eric Garcia.
James Maddison’s brilliant goal added Leicester’s fourth before Nathan Ake scored his first City goal.
Youri Tielemans’ penalty made the fifth, sealing Leicester’s third straight win and leaving City bruised after their most embarrassing league loss to Guardiola since a 4-0 loss at Everton in 2017.
For the first time, in his 686th game as manager with City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, a Guardiola team conceded five goals.
“I think the problem was that we put more pressure on ourselves to score second and third,” Guardiola said.
“Leicester didn’t want to play, just defend and counterattack. In that position we have to be calmer.”
It was the first time that City conceded five goals in a home league game since 2003 against Arsenal, a devastating setback after their victory over Wolves in their first Premier League game last Monday.
“Anxious … we are not creating chances, we are not creating chances, we got nervous, and then we gave away three penalties. When you give away three penalties you can’t win,” Guardiola said.
City were even worse behind than last season despite the signing of Bournemouth center-back Ake.
Amid reports that City may be on the verge of signing Benfica center midfielder Rubén Dias, Guardiola could have been forgiven for rushing to seal the deal once the final whistle sounded.
While it is too early to dismiss City’s title hopes, they will need to improve significantly if they are Liverpool’s champions.
“Of course it is difficult, but still it is the second game of the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
“We have to try to see what to do to avoid it next time. This is my job. Of course I feel bad for the boys, for the club. We have to analyze and improve.”
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers added: “I think to beat Manchester City you have to run like hell, that’s first.
“We showed our quality, we played the system very well and it was an absolutely brilliant result and performance for us.”
Shaken city
City took the lead in the fourth minute when James Justin could only clear Kevin De Bruyne’s half of the corner and Mahrez slammed a superb shot into the top corner from the right side of the Leicester area.
But after dominating the first half, City shook in the 37th minute.
Harvey Barnes’ precise pass put Vardy behind Walker and the City defender gave the Leicester forward a panicky jerk that sent him down.
Vardy got up to punch the penalty high on the roof of the net. He showed his predatory instincts again in the 54th minute.
Making a smart run to find a low cross from Timothy Castagne at the near post, Vardy threw the ball past Ederson with his trailing foot.
Garcia’s push gave Leicester another penalty in the 58th minute.
Once again, Vardy went cold like ice from the spot when he completed just the third triplet against a Guardiola team.
Maddison came off the bench to compound the City’s misery with his 25-yard curling iron in the top corner in the 77th minute.
Ake headed City’s second in the 84th minute, but Benjamin Mendy fouled Maddison four minutes later and Tielemens made Leicester the first team in Premier League history to score three penalties in one game.
