Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City
- Published
Lampard fourth on scorers' list
Dzeko & Kompany injured
Leicester now winless in 11
Home fans chant support for Nigel Pearson
Frank Lampard scored his 175th Premier League goal as Manchester City triumphed 1-0 at bottom-of-the-table Leicester City.
The ex-Chelsea man guided home Samir Nasri's pass to give City three points.
However Manuel Pellegrini's afternoon will have been darkened by injuries to Edin Dzeko and Vincent Kompany.
Striker Dzeko pulled a calf muscle in the warm-up and captain Kompany, in his first game back from injury, appeared to have pulled a hamstring.
That took a little of the attention from Lampard's goal, which puts him level with Thierry Henry in fourth place on the all-time scorers' list.
And with Pellegrini keen to keep the former Chelsea midfielder beyond the end of his loan spell from New York City, he could yet add to his six goals for City.
His latest extended Leicester's winless run to 11 matches, their last victory coming against Manchester United on 21 September.
Manager Nigel Pearson, charged by the Football Association after rowing with a fan during the Foxes' 3-1 loss to Liverpool, will have been heartened to hear a number of chants in his favour from the home support.
His side started well, with forward Jamie Vardy particularly impressive.
The 27-year-old, who terrorised Man City's city rivals United earlier this season, had an early shot deflected wide by Eliaquim Mangala.
Leicester's veteran Argentina international Esteban Cambiasso then came close to catching out Joe Hart with a cheeky 35-yard freekick.
The visitors, with 18-year-old Jose Angel Pozo making his full debut in place of the luckless Dzeko, were laboured and narrow.
However, the young Spaniard sparked City into life when he fired their first shot at stand-in Leicester keeper Ben Hamer.
Moments later they were ahead. Samir Nasri, so impressive in the decisive 2-0 Champions League win over AS Roma, squeezed a pass through a cluster of legs for Lampard, who managed to readjust to sidefoot past Maher.
Pellegrini's men hit cruise control for long periods but, on 77 minutes, Kompany pulled up clutching the back of his right hamstring.
He was replaced by Martin Demichelis and, despite a couple of late scares with substitute Leonardo Ulloa going close, the champions held on.
Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson: "They showed why they are champions, scored a goal out of nothing and didn't really create anything else.
"We are on the receiving end of another defeat and I don't think we deserved to be but that's how it is. There's no point me being anything other than rational about it.
"When you're adrift that makes it even more difficult psychologically but I don't think our players looked like they lacked belief and that will be important."
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: "It is an important victory. It's been a very difficult week for us as we had to play on Wednesday in Rome.
"We play in less then 72 hours another game and it's not enough to recover physically and mentally. And we had a lot of injuries.
"That is why it is important to take a 1-0 lead and defend well."
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