Manchester City took on Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium in the thirteenth match weekend of the Premier League season, with the home side taking a 3-2 win in a game that was a tale of two halves.
Manchester City had not enjoyed their return to club football after the most recent international break, with the team losing the two games that followed it. Losses to Newcastle in the Premier League at St. James’ Park and to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, after a whole host of changes made by Guardiola, meant that the team was looking for a positive turnaround in results.
Guardiola’s men were straight out of the blocks with the fastest goal of the season so far, scored by Phil Foden off the back of a brilliant team move, after just 59 seconds. Manchester City doubled their lead later on with a goal from Josko Gvardiol. The Cityzens went into half-time in control of the match.
Leeds made a few changes at the start of the second half, and the momentum completely changed, with the visitors’ striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin causing the Manchester City backline all sorts of problems. He ended up scoring the first goal after a defensive error, and then he won a penalty, which former Manchester City player Lukas Nmecha converted off the rebound after Gianluigi Donnarumma made a save.
Phil Foden was the hero of the night, with the Manchester City star scoring in the first minute of added time. Cherki, who was brought on in the second half, was a bright spark in the attack, and he ended up getting the assist to Phil Foden for the match winning goal.
Phil Foden's words after the game:
“It’s up there as one of the wildest games”
“We had full control in the first half. They changed their system in the second half and we couldn’t get going. The title race is never straightforward. There’s always ups and downs and periods where you can’t seem to get going and we’ve had that.”
“The belief and togetherness came through at the end. Hopefully that’s the case today that we can kick on from here. But you never know what to expect.”
Pep Guardiola on the win
"I was relieved when he scored in the last minute, and the other [thought is] that he is a big character. I was relieved, yes”
Up next for the Cityzens is Fulham at Craven Cottage, with Manchester City looking to build on this result against Leeds to continue their pursuit of the Premier League title.