Manchester City back in the groove with win over Leicester City

Goals from Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus helped Pep Guardiola's men beat Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.

Gabriel Jesus celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Leicester City on Saturday-AP

Manchester City extended its lead at the top of the Premier League to 17 points as Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus fired it to a 2-0 win at third-placed Leicester City on Saturday.

The effects of the international break were barely noticeable on Pep Guardiola's side, who dominated from the outset, having a Fernandinho strike ruled out for offside before Kevin De Bruyne crashed a free kick against the bar.

Leicester were restricted to the counter-attack but went close to an opener on the stroke of halftime when Jamie Vardy rounded Ederson and slotted the ball home but he was narrowly offside.

City were finally rewarded for their control of the game in the 58th minute when, after keeper Kasper Schmeichel had parried out a Riyad Mahrez shot, Leicester failed to clear a Rodri cross and Mendy cut inside Marc Albrighton and side-footed into the far corner.

De Bruyne was at his very best and it was the Belgian who created the second with a glorious defence-splitting pass to Jesus, who fed Raheem Sterling, the England man taking his time before returning the pass to the Brazilian who poked home.

City ha 74 points from 31 games with Manchester United behind it on 57 from 29 matches and Leicester on 56 from 30.  City now needs, at most, 11 points from its remaining seven matches to secure its third Premier League title in four seasons.

In the battle for Champions League qualification, Leicester are seven points ahead of fifth-placed West Ham United.

Squad rotation key to quadruple hopes "I rotate because it is not possible to play every day," Guardiola told the club after Saturday's 2-0 win at Leicester City. "They are human beings, not machines. "To win all competitions in this year without spectators, when we start later and finish earlier, you cannot be there where we are if you don't rotate. "We don't have even one midweek off. No player can do that and be ready mentally every game. So, I rotate them. "I trust my players so much. They don't trust me, but I trust them with their quality."