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Leicester City have stunned Manchester City and inflicted a second consecutive defeat on the champions of England.
It has been a Christmas to forget for Pep Guardiola’s men after a shock 3-2 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday was followed by a 2-1 defeat to the Foxes.
Logic suggested that the Palace debacle was more an anomaly than any indication of what the second half of the EPL season would hold.
Now that appears to be something of an incorrect assessment after City produced another wasteful and vacuous performance against Leicester.
It was a copycat effort of possession dominance not translating into scoreboard ascendancy, despite City enjoying more of the ball through the middle third.
For the second week running, City’s opposition was able to capitalise on the chances they created as the Etihad backed superstars looked somewhat sloppy going forward.
The Citizens scored early against Palace and did the same on Wednesday with Bernardo Silva converting from close range after a superb and direct sequence of passing through the centre of the Leicester defence.
Yet as was the case against Palace, the Sky Blues would concede almost immediately.
This time it was an exquisite ball from Jamie Vardy that found Marc Albrighton on the far post and his header was placed superbly.
It restored parity and the Leicester home fans’ belief was palpable.
The remainder of the first half was a cracking affair with both sides taking and missing chances. In the end, the 1-1 half time score line was perhaps an accurate reflection of general play.
City were looking dangerous down the left with Leroy Sane causing all sorts of problems and Vardy loomed as a potentially match-winning option on the break for the home side.
After the interval, things were less frantic and Leicester did well to stifle much of the City attack.
As the game looked likely to end in a draw Ricardo Pereira blasted a shot from distance and the sphere thundered into the net with Kasper Schmeichel no chance of being anything but a spectator.
It was a stunning and heart-warming loss for all EPL teams, especially Tottenham, whose 5-0 win over Bournemouth saw them replace Manchester City in second place on the table.
Could Spurs even dream of an EPL title? At this stage of the season it is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Both City and Tottenham will have to chase down a rampant Liverpool who put four past Newcastle in a dominant display that sent them six points clear on top.
The one season wonder Mohamed Salah was at it again and two goals in each half saw the Reds make another emphatic statement.
Fulham and Wolves opened the weekend with a tightly fought draw, before Saturday action brought a feast of goals.
Everton whacked Burnley 5-1 and Manchester’s other team put three past Huddersfield in a comfortable victory.
Palace and Cardiff bucked the trend in a stodgy nil-all draw and Brighton continued Arsenal’s inconsistent run, holding the Gunners to a point at Falmer Stadium.
Chelsea got back on track with a 2-1 win over Watford yet now sit 11 points from Liverpool and any dreams of a title appear lost.
Already, some rather silly media has asked serious questions of Guardiola and his troops. The reality is that they are still well within reach of the Reds and probably still favourites for the title.
However, they are now seven points shy of Liverpool and another loss in the near future might see the Reds installed as firm favourites for the 2018/19 EPL crown.