Leicester 4-2 Manchester City: full highlights (Video)

Leicester dominated Manchester City in the first half of their Premier League encounter at the King Power, taking a 3-0 inside 20 minutes.

Leicester have failed to live up to their billing as defending Premier League champions for most of the 2015-16 season. They entered their match against Manchester City on Saturday only a point clear of the relegation zone.

Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez couldn’t find last season’s form in the league, the defense that was so crucial to the title run-in was leaking goals and the midfield gap left by the departure of N’Golo Kante hadn’t been filled.

Then, all of a sudden, in 20 first-half minutes against Pep Guardiola’s City, the old Leicester re-emerged. Vardy opened the scoring after only two minutes, drilling a low finish past Claudio Bravo after being played through by Islam Slimani. Andy King doubled the lead shortly after with a powerful strike, before Vardy got his second after a beautiful cushioned pass from Mahrez.

The second half was a lot less eventful, with City dominating possession and Leicester sitting deep until Vardy capitalized on a John Stones error to complete his hat-trick. Aleksandar Kolarov got one back with a free-kick shortly after.

Nolito tapped in another for City in the 90th minute, but Leicester’s first-half flurry proved decisive.

City’s approach to the game has been baffling, even accounting for the absence of Nicolas Otamendi and Sergio Aguero. Guardiola’s decision to play with three at the back has backfired, while City’s high line has been ruthlessly exploited in exactly the same way Leicester ruthlessly exploited high defensive lines for the entirety of last season.

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City have dominated the ball, and threatened Leicester’s goal on occasion after their poor start, but have yet to create any clear cut chances. City are now on the brink of losing their second match of the row, and could slip as many as seven points behind leaders Chelsea, pending the result of the Blues’ match against West Brom tomorrow.

The question for Leicester is simple: Is this the sign of a long-term turnaround, or just a brief reminder of the magic of 2015-16?