Erling Haaland’s double helps Manchester City to beat Leeds 1-3 away and return to second place in the Premier League.
Having recovered from illness, Illan Meslier returns in post for the Whites. Adam Forshaw replaces the suspended Tyler Adams. Sam Greenwood and Wilfried Gnonto also appear from the opening minutes.
For the first time in his career, Rico Lewis gets a place in the starting line-up for a Premier League match. Erling Haaland, naturally, is at the cutting edge of the Cityzens’ attack.
Haaland almost opens the scoring in the first minute, but Meslier steps up early on to parry the Norwegian striker’s shot.
The visitors subsequently outclass their opponents three-fold in terms of ball possession, but create no chances and take a number of penalties. Leeds’ attacking play is simply absent.
The second dangerous moment of the match arises in the 31st minute when Haaland goes one on one in the centre, but Meslier again reads the situation and, in advance, moves out of the post, reflecting the ball with his knee.
For the rest of the first half, Jack Grealish misses three times on goal and Riyad Mahrez does the same.
And just when it looks like the home side will hold out until half-time, there’s a goal. It’s Rodri who gets the ball into the net after Mahrez’s shot is deflected by Meslier to make it 0-1.
The second half starts with Grealish going one-on-one. Jack draws on Meslier and generously allows Haaland to hit the empty net, 0–2.
With no time to recover, the Whites concede a third goal. Haaland plays into the wall with Grealish and, after a return pass, takes a shot with his right foot to make it 0–3.
There is nothing to lose, so Leeds take the lead on 73 minutes to cut the difference in the score. Greenwood’s corner kick and Pascal Streick’s header is uncontested — 1:3.
In the 78th minute Haaland again goes one-on-one, but Meslier wins the duel, as well as the previous two. The hosts respond with a Joe Gelhardt momentum, which falls slightly short of the goal corner.
City look slightly unconvincing in the closing stages but never let Leeds back into the game.
Prior to Streak’s goal, City are completely outplayed by Leeds. The home side make their fans happy in the end, but nothing more than that — there is no fight in this match.