From impossible dream to reality: immortality beckons Leicester
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Updated 06/02/2016 at 19:37 GMT
Paul Hassall was at the Etihad stadium to watch Leicester City keep their sensational title dream alive with a 3-1 dismantling of rivals Manchester City.
Riyad Mahrez celebrates scoring Leicester's second goal against Manchester City
Image credit: Reuters
One more down, 13 to go as immortality beckons for Leicester City.
Make no mistake about it - The Foxes's improbable dream has all the hallmarks to become a reality.
This was the latest test of their incredible title tilt, and once more Claudio Ranieri's side passed with flying colours as they defeated Manchester City for the first time since 2003.
If ever a match symbolised the extraordinary journey the East Midlands side have embarked upon over the past 12 months, this was it.
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Robert Huth celebrates scoring for Leicester City against Manchester City
Image credit: Reuters
Even after all of Leicester's exploits, tipping a 3-1 victory for the Foxes at the home of their closest rivals, a team that had won seven of their previous eight matches at the Etihad, was simply implausible. And yet it sums up Leicester's adventure in a nutshell. This 90 minutes of outstanding rearguard backed by a knockout counter attacking punch was merely a microcosm of why they are on the brink of the extraordinary.
The unlikely assault on the summit of this year's Premier League has been likened to that of fantasy and fiction. Indeed, club ambassador and legendary forward, Alan Birchenall suggested in midweek that even Walt Disney would not have scripted their incredible rise from League One to the Premier League summit.
But this challenge can no longer be ignored. Leicester CAN win finish the 2015-16 campaign as champions and the cries of the naysayers are beginning to dwindle in their numbers. How long before they are completely silenced?
This result was a real statement of intent that Ranieri and co can pull off mission impossible, so don't be surprised if Hollywood writers are already dreaming up a screenplay.
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Aleksandar Kolarov takes a tumble against Leicester City
Image credit: Reuters
The latest chapter in the fairytale saw the Foxes cast as the underdogs in one of the most unlikely title showdowns in some years. Anyone suggesting Leicester would be featuring in a February meeting between the league's top two sides 12 months ago would probably have been committed.
In literary terms it was very much 'a tale of two cities'. One City with a grand plan to make itself the elite force amongst Europe's footballing aristocracy; the other hoping to stun the establishment and clinch the most sensational and surprise topflight triumph since Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest lifted the old division one trophy in 1978, just a year after being promoted.
Leicester City aren't exactly leading an uprising of the league's lesser lights that will change English football's landscape forever, but they are looking to become only the sixth side in PL history to be crowned champions. Even unfashionable Blackburn Rovers's success in 94-95 had developed over a number of years of significant spending.
You don't have to read Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski to know money generally buys success. The other winners over the past three decades have been Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and more recently, Manchester City. That's why 'Leicester City: Premier League champions' makes you feel like you're lost in the middle of a scene from the film 'Inception'. Is this truly real?
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Leicester City's Wes Morgan absolutely OWNING Manchester City's Sergio Aguero
Image credit: Reuters
At this time last year, Leicester were rock bottom and have hardly blazed a trail of cash in the transfer market since their dramatic survival act. The Foxes spent under £10 million on Daniel Amartey and Demarai Gray in the January window while Shinji Okazaki was their biggest summer investment at £7million.
The Japanese has played his role, but he hasn't exactly set the goal charts on fire while N'Golo Kante has to go down as one of the finds of the season.
A glance at those names shows that this incredible rise has not been led by a squad of superstars. Yes, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy have emerged as the club's talismanic treasures and will be in the running for the individual awards come the end of the season - but no-one would have foreseen it back in August.
When Robert Huth gave the visitors a dream start inside three minutes the prospect of Ranieri's men ending the weekend at least five points clear at the summit suddenly emerged as a very real prospect. It was the 16th time the Foxes had opened the scoring in 2015-16 and that stat is no doubt one of the foundations of their success.
The goal may have been plundered by an unlikely source, but the provider wasn't.
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Robert Huth, Manchester City, Leicester City
Image credit: Imago
If Vardy has been the pace and cutting edge of Leicester's season, Mahrez has been the guile and finesse. The Algerian will be on many a wish-list of Europe's heavyweights come the summer, but for now he is emerging as a man who is delivering as a big fish from a small pond, on the big occasion.
The precise free kick to set up Huth's first took his league assist tally to 10 for the campaign; only Mesut Ozil (16) has set up more. Mahrez then produced a quite sublime individual strike within minutes of the restart to grab his 14th of the season and cement his place as the individual responsible for the most PL goals so far this term.
If Ranieri had been allowed to dream up his perfect start, Huth's timely flick would have been it. The away side had a platform on which to build, something to protect. The defence once again played a vital part, batting away wave after wave of Manchester City attacks, before the double whammy following the break sealed a remarkable triumph.
Huth's brace will deservedly go down in Foxes folklore, with some of their fans perhaps more than a little premature in adapting the German's Wikipedia page to state that his goals secured a famous win in Leicester's title success.
And yet who can blame them? The East Midlanders' consistency is quite startling. They have taken 75 points from the last 102 available and have now lost just one of their last 16 away games in the division. No wonder the Bookies have finally made them favourites for the title.
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Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri celebrates
Image credit: Reuters
It's hard for the travelling Foxes supporters not to get even more carried away after this result, but one man who will definitely remain grounded is Ranieri.
In his post-match press conference the Italian played down the significance of moving six points clear at the top (ahead of the rest of the weekend fixtures), shooting down a national journalist who tried to suggest it would be one of the greatest triumphs in British sporting history if they were to win the league.
"(It means) nothing, sorry," smiled the Foxes boss. "It is a crazy league. Some big teams have to win, we can just enjoy."
He added: "In seven days we face Arsenal, another tough match, another fantastic stadium. But we will fight. We want to continue our dream."
The Italian knows Leicester are now in the eye of the storm, midway through a double header of visits to rivals for the Premier League crown. Ranieri is well aware of the dangers Arsenal may pose. The Gunners are the only side to have briefly woken Leicester from their perfect dream, humbling them 5-2 on their home turf back in September.
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Leicester
Image credit: Imago
It's the ideal memory to keep everyone's feet on the floor ahead of another huge hurdle as the underdog contemplates whether to dare glancing towards that finish line.
A positive result against Arsene Wenger's side would be a giant stride towards the promised land. After the Emirates, Leicester don't face one of the topflight's big-hitters until the final three games of the season.
Given how close it has been at the summit throughout one of the most unpredictable campaigns in memory, their dreams could all hinge on what happens on the home straight, in matches at Manchester United, at home to Everton and away to Chelsea.
And what better way for Ranieri to seal the most sensational title success in almost 40 years, than with a victory at his former employers Chelsea, the reigning champions?
What price a guard of honour?
It's clearly a pipedream right now, but we are now at a point where you can't rule it out. The Foxes's focus appears to be almost unshakeable as they look to 'enjoy' every one of the 13 steps they must take to achieve glory.
It seems anything really could be possible for Leicester City this season.
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