Kevin De Bruyne’s sublime second-half free-kick was enough to hand a Manchester City side missing Erling Haaland a 1-0 win at Leicester City as the Premier League champions went top of the table.

In a tightly fought contest at the King Power on Saturday lunchtime, Pep Guardiola’s side claimed all three points thanks to De Bruyne’s swerving 49th-minute free-kick that sailed up and over the Leicester wall from 25 yards out, before finding the back of the net off the inside of the post with Danny Ward helpless.

As a result, City made light of the absence of the Premier League’s top scorer, who had started every game this season following his summer move, scoring 22 goals, but had not recovered from an ankle knock in time to feature, to move a point clear of Arsenal at the top of the table before their home clash with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Leicester, meanwhile, stay one place above the drop zone ahead of the rest of Saturday’s top-flight fixtures after seeing their three-match winning run at the King Power, during which time they had not conceded, come to an end.