Kevin De Bruyne scored with a stunning free-kick as Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League despite missing the injured Erling Haaland.
After being kept at bay by Leicester for 45 minutes, De Bruyne was caught early in the second half with a 25-yard belter after Jack Grealish had been fouled.
It was the first away goal in four games for Pep Guardiola’s men who showed they can still win without Haaland. The Norwegian had to miss his first Premier League game due to ligament damage he picked up against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
Julian Alvarez was tasked with replacing the prolific Norwegian, while Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers made his intentions clear by naming three centre-backs, including Caglar Soyuncu, for his first start of the season.
Kevin De Bruyne’s free kick was perfectly placed to hit the post and into the Foxes net to give Manchester City the win.
De Bruyne executed his free-kick perfectly to evade Leicester’s leaping wall and bounce into the net at the left post.
The Belgian’s winner early in the second half proved enough to put Manchester City at the top of the table.
De Bruyne soaks up the cheers from the traveling Man City fans in Leicester after another match-winning performance
ASSESSMENTS OF THE MATCH
Leicester (3-4-3): Ward 7: Amartey 6, Faes 7.5, Soyuncu 7 (Daka 72 5.5); Castagne 6.5, Dewsbury-Hall 6 (Mendy 45 5.5), Tielemans 7, Justin 7; Maddison 7, Vardy 6 (Iheanacho 72 6), Barnes 6.5
Subs not used: Iversen (Gk), Thomas, Praet, Ndidi, Albrighton
Man City (4-1-4-1): Ederson 7: Stones 6, Akanji 6 (Dia 72 6), Reportage 6, Cancelo 7; Rodriguez 6; Bernard 7, De Bruyne 8, Gundogan 6, Grealish 6.5; Alvarez 6.5 (Foot 77 6)
Subs not used: Carson (Gk), Ortega (Gk), Ake, Gomez, Mahrez, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand
Scorer: De Bruyne 49
Referee: Robert Jones 7
The Foxes had not conceded in their previous three games, their best defensive run since March, and looked organized again at the back even as the visitors dominated possession.
Goalkeeper Danny Ward matched everything thrown at him in the first half. He stopped early headers from Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri, blocked Alvarez’s run at goal with his legs and also thwarted Bernardo.
Pin-and-hold tactics had worked for Rodgers before against Guardiola and after barely crossing the halfway line in the first 20 minutes, Leicester suddenly caused problems on the break.
On 24 minutes, Youri Tielemans released Jamie Vardy who turned the ball to Harvey Barnes. His low shot from an acute angle was awkwardly pushed back for a corner by Ederson.
Another break ended with James Maddison attempting the wrong pass to Vardy when Barnes was in space at the other end.
There were groans from the crowd and a gesture from Barnes with Maddison making it clear he thought his team-mate had been in an offside position.
If Manchester City were frustrated going into the break, a half-time drink did the world good.
Rodri had already come close when the breakthrough came in the 49th minute.
Jack Grealish beat a challenge from Nampalys Mendy and, although Leicester complained it was a soft free-kick, it gave De Bruyne the chance to seize his moment 25 yards from goal.
Not many players could get a set piece over a leaping Caglar Soyuncu and back a relatively short distance, but the Belgian wizard did.
The ball dropped after clearing the wall and struck the top right of Ward before turning in on goal for De Bruyne’s 60th Premier League goal, which moved him into fourth in the Manchester City’s all-time list alongside David Silva.
Man City goalkeeper Ederson was called upon to make a great save from Youri Tielemans’ volley shortly after De Bruyne’s goal.
Leicester’s Tielemans tangles with compatriot De Bruyne during Saturday’s clash at the King Power Stadium
Firing up first meant Leicester had to go forward more regularly and they almost equalized with a stunner of their own.
A corner was headed back to Tielemans, who almost added to his repertoire of great goals with a stunning Paul Scholes-esque volley which Ederson did brilliantly to deflect onto the crossbar with his right glove.
In the technical area, Rodgers had his arms raised in triumph anticipating a goal until the last intervention of the visiting goalkeeper.
Leicester upped the ante in the final 20 minutes by sending forwards Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka off the bench and reverting to a back quarter.
Guardiola has shown the strength of his squad with two of his own substitutes; Ruben Dias and Phil Foden.
Danny Ward was called upon to make several saves as the Foxes tried to contain their visitors at the King Power Stadium.
Ward comes off his line to dispossess City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan in a fine personal display on Saturday afternoon
Kelechi Iheanacho fires a shot while surrounded by City defenders as Leicester look for a route back into the game
In the 77th minute, Iheanacho reduced his lines with Maddison’s wayward shot in the 77th minute and Timothy Castagne headed Maddison’s shot over the bar. Iheanacho clipped a pass to Daka who needed Ederson off his line quickly to stop a surprise draw.
The home side almost took advantage in stoppage time when John Stones’ clear header hit Dias on the back and could have gone anywhere but flew out for a corner.
Although second best in 90 minutes, Leicester’s late rally will have encouraged Rodgers. They continue to hover just above the relegation zone but won’t have to face opposition like this every week.
Read how Sportsmail’s Samuel Draper covered the action in the live blog from the Premier League clash between Leicester and Manchester City.