Leicester v Manchester City player ratings: Vardy 5, Soyuncu 8; De Bruyne 9, Cancelo 8

Belgian star's goal fires City to top of Premier League

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  LEICESTER RATINGS: Danny Ward, 8 – Kept City at bay with a string of impressive stops to deny Alvarez and Silva and commanded his penalty area well to claim cross after cross. A top goalkeeping display, but he could do nothing about De Bruyne’s beauty. AP

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  Daniel Amartey, 7 – Stuck to his task against tricky customers in Grealish and Cancelo. Frustrated the visitors, which was no more evident than when he stopped the former at the expense of a corner, only to be awarded a goal-kick with Grealish raging. Reuters

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  Caglar Soyuncu, 8 – A first Premier League start since May for the Turk, so probably not the opposition he’d have hoped to face. You’d never have known though, he was solid and read the danger to see off Silva on a couple of occasions. EPA

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  Wout Faes, 7 – An intriguing battle of compatriots as Faes sought to stop De Bruyne’s assist tally from rising. He managed to do so in a strong display, only for De Bruyne to curl in a wonder goal. A fraction away from finding Maddison with a route one pass. Action Images

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  Timothy Castagne, 6 – Found opportunities to get involved limited in a contest that threatened to turn into a 90-minute passing drill for the visitors. Glanced a header over the bar from Maddison’s set-piece delivery late on. AFP

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  Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, 4 – Got away with one when he sent the ball straight to Rodri who fluffed his pass, and later dangerously tangled with Grealish in the penalty area. Plenty of endeavour, but a sloppy end product. PA

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  Youri Tielemans, 7 – Offered his side temporary respite when he halted a City attack with a brilliant sliding tackle to nick the ball away from Grealish. Inches from an equaliser when his thunderbolt from range rattled the bar via the fingertips of Ederson. AP

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  James Justin, 6 – Did just enough to get the faintest of flicks on a deep cross with Silva lurking on his shoulder ready to pounce. Provided some important energy on the left and looked to feed Barnes down the line, but scuffed a late effort comfortably wide. AFP

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  James Maddison, 6 – A quiet afternoon for the in-form midfielder who really struggled to get involved due to City’s mastery of keep ball. Started to pull the string a bit more in the final 15 minutes, but by then City’s job was almost done. Getty

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  Jamie Vardy, 5 – Showed good awareness to pick out the run of Barnes to his left as Leicester attacked for the first time, but he had to scavenge for everything, captured by a first half in which he touched the ball five times. Getty

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  Harvey Barnes, 7 – Everything came through him for the Foxes. Saw his powerful strike well-saved by Ederson at the near post after City defenders neglected to pick up his run. Curled another effort comfortably wide, but he was the only man causing problems. EPA

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  SUBS: Nampalys Mendy (on for Dewsbury-Hall, 45), 6 – Replaced the under-par Dewsbury-Hall in the middle but could do little to secure his side a foothold in the game. EPA

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  Patson Daka (on for Soyuncu 72), NR – His electric pace added more menace to the home side’s counter. Nodded into the grateful arms of Ederson from Iheanacho’s cross. Getty

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  Kelechi Iheanacho (on for Vardy 71), NR – Pressed superbly and injected some much-needed intensity into Leicester’s play. Curled a rushed effort wide of the near post before dragging a low strike into the body of Ederson who was able to make a routine stop. Getty

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  MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson, 7 – Only had one big save to make and made it well to keep out Barnes’ stinging drive at the front post. Showed good awareness as you’d expect when he raced off the line to collect at the feet of the latter and made a few comfortable stops after that. AP

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  Manuel Akanji, 6 – Showed small signs of frustration creeping into City’s game when he smashed an effort straight into to the back of De Bruyne’s legs from about 25 yards. Terrorised by Barnes on the rare occasions that City were out of possession. Getty

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  John Stones, 8 – Such was City’s dominance, he found himself on the edge of the Leicester box playing one-twos with Silva from open play. When he was called upon defensively, he superbly stood his ground against a tricky twisting and turning Barnes. AP

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  Aymeric Laporte, 6 – Treated Ward to catching practice with a tame header at the back stick from a City corner. Didn’t have much defending to do - although he survived a scare after losing possession cheaply - but he won’t turn his nose up at a clean sheet. AP

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  Joao Cancelo, 8 – The unorthodox full-back was essentially playing as a left winger for the entire game. Picked out Alvarez with a brilliant clipped ball before applying more pressure with a marauding run inside before spreading the ball to Silva. Consistent as ever. EPA

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  Ilkay Gundogan, 6 – Nothing out of the ordinary, but a neat and tidy display. Calmly picked simple passes in the middle, and in fairness, that’s all he had to do. Desperately close to killing the game when he looked to connect with De Bruyne’s low cross on the slide. Reuters

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  Rodri, 8 – Composed as ever, he was always looking for those little one-twos that help City to tick. Searched for Alvarez’s brilliant run with a clever ball over the top which just had a little too much on it and steered inches wide within seconds of the restart. AFP

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  Bernardo Silva, 7 – Saw a first-half drive from a tight angle repelled by Ward’s legs after a ridiculous flick from De Bruyne. Picked out Rodri on the edge of the box with an exquisite cut-back after doing well to keep the ball alive. AFP

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  Kevin De Bruyne, 9 – When all else fails, turn to the magic of Kevin de Bruyne. Created the chance for Silva to shoot with a sumptuous bit of control and opened the scoring with a wonderful free-kick. Won a vital header to clear a stoppage-time corner before carrying City to the other end of the pitch. AFP

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  Jack Grealish, 7 – Did what Jack Grealish does. Stood defenders up, ran in behind and was a general nuisance. Set the stage for De Bruyne when he took City deep into Leicester territory, which meant Leicester had to take him out. Reuters

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  Julian Alvarez, 5 – Another opportunity to impress in the absence of the formidable Haaland, but his early looping header was easily saved and he was smartly denied by the legs of the impressive Ward. Found opportunities hard to come against a robust back five. PA

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  SUBS: Ruben Dias (on for Akanji, 72), NR – Replaced Akanji as Pep Guardiola opted for caution. Harshly penalised for a high foot on Barnes despite winning the ball. I’m not sure what else he could have done short of giving the Leicester man a free run at goal. AP

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  Phil Foden (on for Alvarez 77), NR – Not fit enough to make the starting XI but not a bad option to have from the bench either. That said, he didn’t really have chance to make his mark. AP

Kevin De Bruyne's perfectly-struck free kick was enough to overcome the absence of Erling Haaland as Manchester City went top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Leicester.

De Bruyne curled in a set piece from 25 yards that went over the Leicester wall and in via the post in the 49th minute to secure a victory that lifted City one point above Arsenal ahead of the Gunners' game against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

“He’s back,” City manager Pep Guardiola said of De Bruyne, having publicly called on the Belgium midfielder recently to produce more. “He was not playing good in the last games. (Today he was) amazing. He knows it.”

City had dominated the first half but lacked a clear focal point in attack after Haaland was ruled out with an ankle problem, the first time the Norway striker has missed a game this season.

Player ratings from the King Power Stadium can be seen in the gallery above. To view the next image, just swipe.