Leicester held Man City to a draw, Arsenal retained top spot.

Leicester City lost their top spot in the Premier League after drawing 0-0 with Manchester City in the late match of round 19 on December 29th.

Both goalkeepers played well, preventing either side from scoring. Photo: GC.

Leicester led the Premier League at Christmas but were not the champions of the first half of the season. The top spot changed hands when Leicester only managed one point against Man City at home. Arsenal thus retained first place with the same 39 points as Leicester but with a better goal difference. Man City finished third with three points less.

The draw against a strong team like Man City capped off a miraculous journey for Leicester. Against a club with a squad value twelve times greater, the Foxes showed no signs of being outmatched. Man City had excellent opportunities to seal the game, and so did the home team at King Power Stadium. Goalkeeper Joe Hart applauded after the match, knowing that Man City had left with a point. In the final minutes, Leicester dominated and nearly scored the winning goal.

Leicester have shown consistency throughout the first half of the season, regardless of the opponent. Claudio Ranieri's team have only suffered two defeats this season, against Arsenal and Liverpool.

Man City are in excellent form at home but struggle to maintain that away from home. This season, the Etihad side have recorded three wins, three draws, and three losses away from home, scoring eight goals and conceding the same number. Their last away win was just over three months ago, against Crystal Palace. This lack of effectiveness away from home will be a problem for manager Manuel Pellegrini to address in the second half of the season if he wants to lead Man City to the league title.

Man City played better in the first half, especially in the first 30 minutes. The visitors mainly attacked down the right wing, with Bacary Sagna pushing forward and Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling being mobile. In the 18th minute, Sterling forced goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to make his first save with a quick shot inside the penalty area.

Sterling had three scoring opportunities but none were difficult enough to beat Schmeichel. Photo: Reuters.

The former Liverpool midfielder had two more scoring opportunities but couldn't give Man City the opening goal. Despite attacking frequently, the visitors still failed to put enough pressure on Leicester's defense. This meant Sergio Aguero never received the ball in a favorable position to test the opposing goalkeeper.

The Argentinian striker only played 62 minutes before being substituted. Aguero is a top-class striker, but this season he hasn't been able to showcase his full potential due to a series of injuries. His clearest chance against Leicester was an inaccurate shot from six meters out.

Aguero has scored 7 goals this season, five of which came from the win against Newcastle. Photo: AFP.

Leicester's clearest chance came in the first half, from a Fernandinho turnover. Danny Drinkwater passed the ball to Jamie Vardy, putting the leading scorer one-on-one with Joe Hart. But this time Vardy shot over the bar after his burst of speed.

The second half was more evenly matched, but no goals were scored.

According to VNE