Erling Haaland was in awe as a magnificent Kevin De Bruyne goal helped Manchester City get the better of Leicester City.
Top scorer Haaland sat out Saturday's Premier League game after a combination of illness and injury in the lead-up to the game meant he wasn't risked. The Norwegian managed just 45 minutes in midweek against former club Borussia Dortmund, and Julian Alvarez started ahead of him at the King Power Stadium
While January signing Alvarez failed to add to his two Premier League goals, last season's top league scorer De Bruyne broke the hosts' resistance with a free-kick which gave goalkeeper Danny Ward no chance. It was the first goal the Foxes had conceded since October 8, and Haaland was impressed to say the least.
Posting on Twitter moments after the goal, Haaland tagged team-mate De Bruyne and simply added a heart-eyes emoji. The striker's enjoyment of the goal was shared by a number of fans, with praise pouring in for the Belgium international.
"Context: KDB is the best midfielder in the world," wrote one fan. Another called the midfielder an "artist," while many others used the opportunity to wish Haaland a speedy recovery.
"He feels better but we will train this afternoon and we will assess in a few hours," manager Pep Guardiola said of Haaland before the game. "We will see how he feels in his foot and after we will decide. I will know in two hours if he's able to play or not."
Ultimately, the decision from the boss was that Haaland wasn't in good enough shape to feature. "Yeah, [He] recovered from the fever, from being tired but not from the knock,” Guardiola told BT Sport before kick-off.
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Leicester still had chances to recover a point after going behind. Brendan Rodgers' side gave as good as they got, with Youri Tielemans' volley being tipped onto the bar by Ederson and former Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho threatening after coming off the bench.
The visitors held on for the win, though, with the result taking them a point clear of Arsenal at the top of the table. Mikel Arteta's Gunners can still return to the summit on Sunday if they manage to beat Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium, while City and Arsenal still have to play each other twice in the new year.
Next up for Guardiola's team is a Champions League closer at home to Sevilla on Wednesday, though it remains to be seen whether Haaland is risked against the Spanish side. City's midweek point in Dortmund ensured they will go into the last 16 of the competition as group winners.
