But Leicester came roaring back when James Maddison, Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho scored three quickfire goals after the break to leave the Premier League leaders a little panicked.
Ayermic Laporte eased those nerves by heading home for 5-3 before some more poor defending from Leicester from a set-piece allowed Sterling to poke home from close range.
City have now won their last nine Premier League games, scoring 30 goals in the process.
How a Christmas cracker unfolded…
Leicester were without three of their first-choice back four and Guardiola's men wasted no time in putting the makeshift backline under pressure. De Bruyne had them ahead after just five minutes.
Player ratings
Man City: Ederson (7), Cancelo (7), Dias (6), Laporte (7), Zinchenko (7), Fernandinho (6), Silva (8), Gundogan (7), Mahrez (8), De Bruyne (9), Sterling (8)
Subs: Foden (7)
Leicester: Schmeichel (6), Albrighton (5), Amartey (5), Vestergaard (5), Thomas (6), Tielemans (5), Maddison (9), Dewsbury-Hall (7), Lookman (7), Perez (5), Iheanacho (8)
Subs: Castagne (7), Choudhury (6)
Man of the match: Kevin De Bruyne
The Belgian had already had one shot on goal blocked when he coolly controlled Fernandinho's lobbed ball into the box and curled beyond Kasper Schmeichel.
The hosts doubled their lead with the first of their penalties nine minutes later after Youri Tielemans was deemed to have bundled over Laporte in the box, something that was missed by the referee Chris Kavanagh but spotted by VAR.
Mahrez, up against his former club, made no mistake as he thumped into the roof of the net from 12 yards.
Team news
- Pep Guardiola made two changes from the win over Newcastle. There was no Rodri in the squad so Fernandinho got a rare start – just his fourth in the Premier League this season. Gabriel Jesus dropped to the bench so Ilkay Gundogan played from the start. Phil Foden and Jack Grealish remained out of favour and on the bench.
- Brendan Rodgers was forced into six changes from the team that beat Newcastle in their last Premier League match. Timothy Castagne, Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans, Wilfred Ndidi, Harvey Barnes and Patson Daka were are unavailable to start so Marc Albrighton, Daniel Amartey, Jannik Vestergaard, Ademola Lookman, Ayoze Perez and Kelechi Iheanacho replaced them.
- Leicester briefly rallied with first Maddison having a well-struck free-kick palmed onto the crossbar by Ederson and genuinely looked very dangerous on the break, yet it was the league leaders that grabbed the next goal on 21 minutes.
- Joao Cancelo drilled a low ball into the box which Schmeichel pushed it away from goal but Gundogan was on hand to tuck home the rebound from close range.
- City's fourth came after they were awarded another penalty shortly afterwards. Tielemans was again the guilty party as he tripped Sterling and this time Kavanagh had no hesitation in making the decision. Sterling stepped up to score himself with another firmly-hit effort.
Schmeichel kept the scoreline from hitting dangerous embarrassing levels with two superb stops in denying a Sterling close-range volley and Gundogan's dipping effort from distance.
It was anticipated that City would look to enhance their goal difference even further after the break. However, Rodgers switched to a back five with Maddison playing off the right and it led to an unbelievable period of play where they scored three goals in 10 minutes.
An inspired Maddison started and finished the first of them, breaking away from the defence with a neat flick and then firing firmly past Ederson after combining with Iheanacho.
Maddison then launched another counter-attack by again picking out Iheanacho, but this time it was Lookman who raced onto the Nigerian's through-ball to tuck home.
Leicester roared forward again and Iheanacho snapped up a rebound after Maddison tested Ederson from distance to make it 4-3.
One of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history looked on with City becoming nervous with their passing but City eased nerves as Laporte headed home from a corner to restore a two-goal cushion in the 69th minute.
City regained control of the match and Sterling added a late sixth in what was a pulsating afternoon of entertainment.
| Man City | 6 | - | 3 | Leicester |
Possession 71.8% 28.2% Duels success rate 45.3% 54.7% Aerial duels won 40.0% 60.0% Interceptions 3 9 Offsides 2 1 Corners 14 4
Man of the match: Kevin De Bruyne
It's a worrying factor for all of Manchester City's rivals this season that they sit six points clear at the top of the Premier League and De Bruyne is only just hitting top form. This was another piece of evidence to suggest that the brilliant Belgian is once again at ease with his game. Every pass he makes look so silky. And his interchanging with Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan was a joy to behold in the first 45 minutes where Leicester decided to award that dangerous trio far too much space. De Bruyne opened the scoring with a clinical finish and he created three chances for his teammates - more than any other City player.
Special mention also has to go to Maddison, who remains Leicester's most potent weapon. He was outstanding in the pocket, giving Fernandinho the run around.
What the managers said
Man City boss Pep Guardiola: "The game was open even at 4-0, it was not closed. They are a big club with quality. Second half they changed the shape.
"We know the quality they have in the build-up, when Maddison can play and Tielemans can play and Kelechi and Lookman, the last six Premier League games we won five but so so difficult.
"They have an exceptional manager. Laporte slipped and Ruben had one yellow to be suspended and was not aggressive enough. "Then 4-1 and 4-2 and the mindset of the players changed. 4-3 the game was close to be equalised. We were more patient and they had two more chances and we had chances too and set-pieces we won the game."
Pep Guardiola described Manchester City’s first half display as ‘exceptional’ after they beat Leicester 6-3 in a very entertaining match at the Etihad stadium.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers: "It was a difficult start to the game for us, really disappointed with the penalty, really soft, so that was frustrating. We came in at half-time, the scoreline for me didn't reflect the game. We had eight shots, they had nine, but we were 4-0 down. We were in a tough position, but we make a change, and then we challenge the players in the second half to win the second half, bring us closer to their goals, we have to show the mentality and character that is in this team.
"We never unravelled, that could have been an easy thing to do, down 4-0 to the champions but the players didn't do that. We played some incredible football, disappointing to concede from a set-piece but we had two big chances at 5-3. Conceding two penalties and two from set-pieces is disappointing."
Brendan Rodgers criticised the officiating during Leicester’s 6-3 defeat to Man City and was particularly disappointed with the decision to award the first penalty after it was referred to VAR.
Opta stats
- Manchester City have scored 6+ goals in consecutive home Premier League games (7-0 vs Leeds, 6-3 today) for the first time since November 2013, when they beat Norwich 7-0 and Spurs 6-0.
- Leicester City were 4-0 down inside 25 minutes in this match, the first time a side had found themselves four goals down that early in a Premier League game since Watford were 4-0 down after 15 minutes against Manchester City in September 2019.
- There were eight different scorers in this match, the most since Liverpool's 5-3 win over Chelsea in July 2020 (also eight). In Premier League history, only Spurs 4-5 Arsenal in November 2004 has seen more different scorers in a Premier League game (9, excl. own goals).
Mahrez scored in four consecutive appearances in English football for the first time since he moved to Leicester in 2014 - he has scored for Man City against RB Leipzig, Leeds, Newcastle and Leicester this month.- Maddison has been involved in 11 goals in his last eight appearances in all competitions (6 goals, 5 assists) and has scored four goals in his last five Premier League appearances.
What's next?
Manchester City take their winning run to Brentford on Wednesday (8.15pm kick off) whilst Leicester host Liverpool on Tuesday (8pm kick off).
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