Dubai Telegraph - Grealish strikes early as Man City move up to fourth in Premier League

England international Grealish struck in just the second minute -- his first Premier League goal in 16 months -- with Omar Marmoush also on target in the first half at the Etihad Stadium.

Victory took the reigning English champions back into the Champions League places, although they are still a huge 22 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool.

It also saw them cope just fine without Norway striker Haaland, who will be out of action for up to seven weeks after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth.

Manchester City took just two minutes to go in front against second-bottom Leicester, who have lost seven successive league games.

Jeremy Doku and Savinho combined to carve open the Leicester defence before Grealish slotted home from close range for his first league goal since December 2023.

Grealish's long-awaited goal was missed by hundreds of City fans, who stayed outside the stadium for the first nine minutes in protest at the club's deal with a third-party ticket resale company.

The protestors did get to see City double their advantage in the 29th minute as Egypt forward Marmoush lashed home after Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen made a hash of dealing with Ruben Dias's pass.

City are up to fourth place, one point ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle and two in front of sixth-placed Chelsea, who face Tottenham in their game in hand on Thursday.

The top four qualify for the Champions League automatically, while fifth place is likely to also provide a berth in Europe's elite club competition.

G.Gopinath--DT