Man City 3-2 Leeds

Phil Foden scored twice as Man City eventually got the victory over a gritty Leeds United side at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland who is still in pursuit of his 100th goal in the Premier League was kept rather quiet throughout the match.

Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaaland were City’s front 3 on the night, in a 433 set up. Also set up in a 433, Wilfriend Gnonto, Lucas Nmecha and Dan James were the front 3 for Leeds.

The match was a five-goal thriller that saw Manchester City struggle to overcome a determined Leeds side, eventually winning 3-2. The tone was set immediately, as City opened the scoring inside the first 60 seconds. Phil Foden received a pass from Matheus Nunes and scored with a sweet strike to put City ahead 1-0.

City continued to dominate the early proceedings, and Foden was central to their attacking thrust. In the 15th minute, Foden was denied a second goal when a dangerous cross was met with a crucial, last-ditch block by Leeds’ James Justin, registering the first near miss/save combination of the game. Seconds later, Foden whipped in a corner, received the ball back, and his first-time shot required an excellent save from Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri.

The pressure on the Leeds goal eventually told. In the 25th minute, City doubled their lead from a corner routine. After Perri punched the ball against Nico O’Reilly, resulting in a header down that Josko Gvardiol pounced on to poke the ball home from close range, making the score 2-0.

Leeds attempted to find a way back into the contest, creating an opportunity in the 32nd minute. Lukas Nmecha had a wayward shot, striking the ball over the bar with his left foot from the edge of the box. Before the end of the half, Perri was called into action again for Leeds, making a good stop in the 40th minute to deny a low effort from City’s Nico Gonzalez. City had one last near miss before the whistle when Pascal Struijk made a crucial block to deny a shot from Tijjani Reijnders in the 44th minute. The first half concluded with Manchester City holding a comfortable 2-0 lead.

The second half began with a renewed vigor from Leeds, marked by two substitutions straight away. Dominic Calvert-Lewin replaced Daniel James, and Jaka Bijol replaced Wilfried Gnonto. These changes had an immediate and dramatic impact.

Before the first goal of the half, Leeds showed intent in the 48th minute when a deep free-kick created chaos in the box. The ball fell to Ethan Ampadu, whose low shot beat the keeper but was cleared by a covering body, resulting in a near miss.

Leeds quickly capitalized on the pressure they were building. In the 49th minute, an error by Matheus Nunes allowed the ball to become loose in the box, and substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin was sharpest, scoring from close range to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The match entered a heated, end-to-end phase, indicated by a flurry of yellow cards. City’s Matheus Nunes was booked in the 55th minute, followed by his teammate Bernardo Silva in the 57th minute. Leeds responded with a booking of their own in the 58th minute when Joe Rodon saw yellow.

The pivotal moment of the comeback occurred shortly thereafter. In the 66th minute, Josko Gvardiol was booked for scything down Calvert-Lewin, conceding a penalty to Leeds. Two minutes later, Leeds drew level. Lukas Nmecha took the penalty, which was initially saved by City’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, Nmecha was quickest to react and slotted home the rebound, scoring the equalizer to make the score 2-2.

Leeds made another substitution in the 69th minute, bringing on Gabriel Gudmundsson for James Justin. City responded with a change in the 75th minute, replacing Tijjani Reijnders with Rayan Cherki. Leeds’ final planned substitution came in the 81st minute when Noah Okafor replaced the goal-scorer Lukas Nmecha.

As the clock wound down, the intensity escalated. In the 87th minute, City’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was booked for an injury-time incident. This moment drew controversy, with the Leeds manager suggesting that the keeper had feigned an injury in order to allow City to have a team talk.
City introduced a second forward in the 89th minute, substituting Omar Marmoush for Bernardo Silva. Marmoush made an immediate impact, with his header from a Jeremy Doku cross forcing a save from Lucas Perri.

However, the deadlock was broken in the first minute of stoppage time, and it was the man who started the scoring who finished it. Phil Foden received an assist from substitute Rayan Cherki and tucked the ball into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the area, scoring his second goal and City’s winner to make the score 3-2.

Leeds made a final desperate substitution in the 90th minute plus two, with Brenden Aaronson replacing Ao Tanaka. City made their last change in the 96th minute, replacing Jeremy Doku with John Stones to run down the clock. The match concluded in the 100th minute, with Manchester City narrowly securing the 3-2 victory.