Pep Guardiola celebrated his 500th game in charge of Manchester City with a win that he believes will help rebuild shattered confidence among his Premier League champions.
Goals in either half from Savinho and Erling Haaland – ending a four-match drought – gave City only their second win in 10 league games against a more deserving Leicester side.
City are still a long way off leaders Liverpool and their chances of a fifth straight title appear slim, even if Guardiola hopes better times are on the horizon.
“We have to win to clear our minds and see, 'Okay, we can win games,'” he said. 'I never thought it would be this difficult and maybe it's a good thing.
'Relief is the right word, more than happiness. We have to improve a lot and the result will improve us. We are back to our best, that much is certain, and the result helps us enormously.
'We all needed it. Hopefully this will improve our mood. Leicester were much better for a lot of the game and we don't have enough energy to last 90 minutes, but in the new year it will hopefully help us to come back a bit.
'I always thought that a series like that could happen because football is not predictable, but even knowing that, I could never have expected that there would be so many games that we couldn't win.
“It was an incredible learning experience and this win is just one game away. We'll see what happens in January.'
Haaland's goal was only his second in the competition since November 9, when Guardiola revealed his star striker had recently become a father for the first time.
Haaland admitted: “It wasn't the ideal performance, but the result is the most important thing to clear our minds. It's always a relief when you score. Now we can get some rest.'
Despite recent problems, Guardiola's eight-and-a-half years in Manchester have been remarkably successful, with the 2023 Treble topping it all off. The 53-year-old also signed a new two-year contract with the club in November.
“I know the last 13 or 14 games haven't been good, but we have to be so happy and lucky,” he added. “We did a lot of things that will be remembered forever. Maybe this period will make us realize how much fun it was and hopefully we'll come back again.'
After starting with a win and a draw, Leicester have lost their last four games and remain in the bottom three, although this left boss Ruud van Nistelrooy optimistic.
The Dutchman said: 'The performance makes it a bit painful that we didn't take anything away from the match. It's a shame, but it's a foundation to build on.'
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