Man City 2-1 Leeds United, Highlights: Gundogan scores brace, Guardiola’s side stays on course for league title

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City holds on for a 2-1 win despite a late goal from Leeds. Pep Guardiola’s side goes four points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table. That should be enough to seal another league title.

Last minute. Ball still in the Leeds half.

City on the counter. McKennie fouls Gundogan and receives a yellow card for kicking the ball away. Gundogan, meanwhile, is substituted. Rodri comes on.

Four minutes of stoppage time. Can Leeds find the equaliser? City executing the short corner routine to run down the clock and frustrating its opponent.

Into the final minute of regulation time and this match is far from over.

Bernardo Silva comes on for Alvarez.

Well, well That came out of nowhere. Rodrigo puts in the bottom-left corner from just inside the City box. Great bit of work from Firpo to win the aerial duel with Gundogan before heading it behind to send Rodrigo through.

The City skipper, going for his hat-trick, hits the right post.

Struijk fouls Foden inside the box. A chance for Haaland or Gundogan to go for his hat-trick?

Aaronson and Struijk come on for Bamford and Forshaw.

Swift ball movement from City. Foden with a brilliant cross from the left but a Leeds shirt intercepts it just in time.

Another fine cross from KDB into the box but Robles punches the ball away before Haaland could head it in.

Into the final 15 minutes. Can Leeds pull one back and make things interesting?

Mahrez goes for the goal directly with his left-footed strike and Robles gets his hands behind the ball just in time.

Foul by Rodrigo on KDB on the right side of the Leeds box and he receives a yellow card. Free kick for City.

Mahrez fouled on the edge of the Leeds box. Another free kick for the men in blue. KDB takes the free-kick this time, tries to bend it in and Robles pouches it easily.

Haaland fouled on the edge of the Leeds box. Free kick for City. Mahrez takes it, hits the wall and earns a corner.

Summerville comes on for Harrison.

A rare counter-attack from Leeds with McKennie providing a long pass to Bamford who makes a run along the midfield with Akanji following him. Bamford does not wait to look for options and passes the ball into the City box only to watch it being cleared by a defender.

So close for the Norwegian. After patient play from the City, Lewis puts in a through-ball for Haaland who controls it with his back to the goal before turning and hitting with his left-foot to beat Robles. However, the ball hits the right post and goes behind.

Sam Greenwood and Rodrigo replace Roca and Gnonto.

Ayling with a cross from the right wing, Bamford heads it at the far post but it is off target as he is blocked by Lewis. Bamford thinks Leeds should have a corner but the referee disagrees.

Kyle Walker comes on for Ake who seems to have an injury.

Beautiful move by City. Foden with a cross from the left wing to Mahrez on the right who passes it to Lewis in the midfield before Lewis puts it through for Alvaraz on the right. Alvaraz with the cross for Haaland in the middle who hits the header in the center and Roblev saves it. The Norwegian could have done better there.

Long ball from Leeds, Ederson comes to the edge of his box and decides to head it away. A wry smile on the Brazilian’s face.

Free kick for City, KDB sends it to the left post where Laporte reaches in time and somehow passes the ball to Haaland in the middle who hits the bar with his header. The offside flag is up.

Leeds needs to make sure it does not lose by a big margin as it could significantly affect its goal difference which could be crucial in the relegation battle.

The players are back on the pitch for the second half. No changes from either team.

Manchester City in a very comfortable position at the halfway stage after a brace from skipper Gundogan.

Foul by Gnonto on Mahrez on the right of the Leeds box. Free kick to City. Gnonto also receives a yellow card. Free kick taken, Ake with the header at the far post, Leeds player clears it away but only as far as Foden who hits the volley from the edge of the box and it does not miss the bar by much.

First of the two minutes of added time.

Corner for City. Mahrez kicks it towards the edge of the Leeds box and Firpo clears it away.

Foul on Roca by Akanji near the center circle. Free kick to Leeds.

Into the last five minutes of the first half. Can City add one more and make it 3-0?

De Bruyne with a cross from the left, Kristensen at the near post fails to clear it properly and ends up conceding a corner to Haaland.

Another gorgeous move from City. De Bruyne with a through-ball, Haaland with a perfectly-timed run to leave his marker behind but the Norwegian fails to execute the shot in time.

Long ball from City, Leeds goalkeeper comes out to collect it but collides with teammate Kristensen and ends up dropping the ball for Alvarez. The Argentine takes a shot but Robles recovers in time to save the attempt.

Much better from Leeds as McKennie’s header makes the City goalkeeper work for the first time in this match.

Gundogan finds the bottom-left corner this time. Once again, a simple pass from Mahrez from the right to his skipper on the edge of the box and Gundogan finds the back of the net to double City’s lead. A disastrous start for Leeds under Sam Allardyce.

Gundogan with an aerial pass from the midfield, Haaland controls it with his left foot inside the box before hitting it wide of the right post with his right foot. This would have been some goal from the Norwegian!

De Bruyne with the through-ball for Foden, who chips it, unintentionally, to Mahrez on the right post but the Algerian’s right-footed effort goes over the bar.

And here it comes. Wave after wave of Man City attacks and the goal has finally arrived. Mahrez with a run inside the box from the right before passing it to City skipper Gundogan on the edge of the box who comfortably puts the ball into the bottom-right corner with his right foot.

Superb cross from Mahrez from the right but the ball evades Haaland inside the box and the Leeds defense clears it.

Another City attack, Haaland in a one-on-one situation against the Leeds goalkeeper and takes his shot but Robles saves it with his right leg.

What a chance this was! The Argentine was totally unmarked when he received the pass from De Bruyne from the right but he ended up skying the shot.

De Bruyne with a beautiful through-ball. However, there is confusion between Foden, who runs in from the left and Haaland, who makes a run inside the box, and eventually, the ball goes out for a goal-kick.

Mahrez lays it up for De Bruyne on the edge of the Leeds box, De Bruyne hits with his right foot but does not get enough power on the shot. Leeds defense clears the ball.

Bamford gets to McKennie’s cross from the right at the near post but the header goes over the bar. The Leeds striker was in an offside position anyway.

Leeds looks to hit on the counter with an aerial pass along the left wing for Harrison but it has just a bit too much in it.

First corner of the game for City and Akanji’s header goes well over the bar.

Rico Lewis with a through-ball for Haaland on the edge of the Leeds box but it is intercepted by one of the defenders.

De Bruyne, looking for Haaland at the far post, puts in a cross from the left but Leeds goalkeeper Joel Robles gets to the ball first.

Foden puts in a cross from the left but McKennie clears it away. Man City, as expected, dominating from the word go.

Haaland with an early attempt from outside the box but it is way off-target.

Live action begins at the City of Manchester Stadium. Leeds takes the kick-off.

The two teams walk out of the tunnel and onto the pitch.

Here’s what new Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce has to say before today’s match

Man City - WWWWW

Leeds United - LLLDL

December 28, 2022: Leeds 1-3 Man City

April 30, 2022: Leeds 0-4 Man City

December 14, 2021: Man City 7-0 Leeds

April 10, 2021: Man City 1-2 Leeds

October 3, 2020: Leeds 1-1 Man City

Played: 19 | Manchester City: 7 | Leeds United: 7 | Draws: 5

Manchester City - Ederson (GK), Ake, Laporte, Akanji, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Alvarez, Lewis, Haaland, Mahrez, Foden

Leeds United - Robles (GK), Firpo, Kristensen, Wober, Ayling, Forshaw, Roca, Harrison, Bamford, McKennie, Gnonto

The match will kick off at 7:30 pm IST. It will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on Disney+Hotstar app/website.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Leeds United will be dangerous opponents under interim manager Sam Allardyce given the injection of motivation change often brings.

City can go four points clear of Arsenal atop the Premier League with a victory over the Yorkshire club today but faces a team desperate to avoid the drop.

Allardyce was parachuted in on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to help Leeds, which is only outside the relegation places on goal difference, remain in the top flight.

“Always the impact of your manager on the players in the first one or two games ... of course every team is playing for important things but for Leeds to stay (up), the impact is huge,” Guardiola said on Friday.

“I don’t know the system he is going to play, we don’t have any info, we can imagine what he is trying to do with us. And again, it is a massive, massive important game for us.”

Told that Allardyce gave no hints about tactics in his own press conference earlier on Friday, Guardiola said: “When you don’t have info about the opponent ... don’t focus much on them. Think about your team, analyse the West Ham game to help us know what to do for the next game, and that’s all.”

Treble-chasing City beat the Hammers 3-0 on Wednesday to stretch its unbeaten run to 19 matches in all competitions.

As well as chasing the league championship, it visits Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinal, first leg on Tuesday and faces Manchester United in next month’s FA Cup final.