MANCHESTER City was frustrated again on the road as Leicester bounced back from defeat at Liverpool with a 0-0 draw Tuesday that maintained its surprise Premier League title challenge.

    Leicester had to withstand a barrage of first-half pressure from the visitors but the players held firm for the point that took them level with Arsenal at the top of the table.

    Arsenal leads Leicester — the surprise team of the season — on goal difference, with third-place City three points behind after half of the league campaign.

    Raheem Sterling was a danger in the first half for City at King Power Stadium, forcing Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel into three saves, while striker Jamie Vardy wasted the home side’s best chance by blazing over when clear on goal.

    City finally managed to keep a clean sheet without injured captain Vincent Kompany (calf) — who was ruled out for up to four weeks by manager Manuel Pellegrini after the game — but hasn’t won away in its last six attempts.

    “I don’t think in December that you’re going to win the title,’’ Pellegrini said. “At the end of January and the first week of February, maybe we can see more who are finally the teams which will be involved in the fight.’’

    After a loss at Liverpool on Saturday, Leicester’s title credentials were questioned by some, especially as it was battling relegation all of last season. But Claudio Ranieri’s side silenced their doubters with another superb performance, holding its own against many pundits’ favorite for the championship.

    “This league is very crazy. nobody wants to win the league. It’s very strange,’’ Ranieri said. “We’re the basement and the other teams are a villa with a swimming pool. It’s not easy for us but we want to fight with everybody.

    Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Petr Cech is hoping to provide the perfect platform for the club to win the title after the goalkeeper celebrated a record by keeping his 170th Premier League clean-sheet.

    The 33-year-old surpassed the 169 shut-outs recorded by former England international David James as Arsenal beat Bournemouth 2-0 Monday to go top of the table.

    Cech joined the club in the close season following a trophy-laden career at London rival Chelsea, having kept 162 league clean sheets over 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge.

    “I have to confess that I started thinking about the record. The most important thing was to win the game and once we got the 2-0 lead and it was going towards the end of the game,” Cech told reporters.

    “In the last 10 minutes, I was checking the clock.

    “I feel really proud because I believe that this is the best league in the world and one of the most difficult leagues to play for a goalkeeper, and so to have achieved such a record is a great personal achievement,” the Czech Republic international added.

    “What makes me happy the most, probably, is that these clean sheets have so far brought four Premier League trophies. So, hopefully, we’ll add clean sheets this season and we’ll celebrate at the end of the season. This is far more important.”(SD-Agencies)