Ademola Lookman was the hero as he came off the bench to give Leicester a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at the King Power.
Liverpool were dominant for much of the match, with Mo Salah missing a first-half penalty and Kasper Schmeichel making a number of superb saves for the Foxes.
But they were made to pay for missing their chances, as Lookman scored after an hour before his side defended heroically to hang on for the three points.
It was a big turnaround from Leicester’s 6-3 defeat to Man City on Boxing Day, while Liverpool failed to make the most of their fresher legs, having had their match with Leeds postponed.
Man City now have a six-point lead at the top of the table ahead of their match against Brentford tomorrow, and they go into 2022 as the firm favourites for the Premier League title.
Salah was brought down in the box by Wilfred Ndidi after 15 minutes, after the Leicester defender made a clumsy, unnecessary challenge.
It was not the Egyptian’s best penalty though, with Schmeichel parrying it back out. Salah got to the rebound first, but he could not quite climb high enough and his looped header hit the top of the bar and Leicester scrambled it clear.
Jamie Vardy was denied by a great block by Joel Matip, before Schmeichel was again on hand to deny Salah with a wonderful save to tip a fierce effort over the bar.
Leicester enjoyed their best spell of the match towards the end of the first-half, Kelechi Iheanacho having a shot blocked and James Maddison seeing his effort cleared away as the sides went into the break level.
The visitors started brightly after the break, and should have taken the lead. Diogo Jota played in Sadio Mane, who blasted over from inside the box when through on goal.
And Liverpool were made to regret that miss just before the hour mark. Lookman was brought on by Brendan Rodgers, and three minutes later he scored the opening goal, combining brilliantly with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall before firing home at the near post.
Jurgen Klopp’s side threw everything at the Foxes in the closing stages, winning corner after corner, but Leicester’s makeshift defence held firm as the home crowd erupted at the full-time whistle.
