Manchester City ramped up the pressure on Arsenal in the Premier League title race by moving to within two points of the summit with a 1-0 win at Leeds.
Antoine Semenyo scored the decisive goal right on the stroke of half-time when finishing off a flowing move.
City looked to be missing the influence of Erling Haaland, who was missing through a minor ankle injury, as Leeds squandered 1.27 worth of expected goals before the break with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Brendan Aaronson particularly wasteful in front of goal.
There was little response from Leeds in the second half though as City showed their ability to grind out results in the run-in once again. Focus now switches to Arsenal on Sunday when they host Chelsea, live on Sky Sports.
Sunday 1st March 4:25pm
Kick off 4:30pm
Leeds’ survival fight has gained momentum since Phil Foden’s stoppage-time winner in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium in November, with only two defeats in their following 14 league matches.
And they should have taken an early lead when Calvert-Lewin steered Aaronson’s excellent cross wide from in front of goal in the third minute. Aaronson was next to fire just wide, from Jayden Bogle’s cross, as Leeds’ intense press won them plenty of possession high up the field. But that was as good as it got for Leeds as slowly started to take over.
City took the lead in first-half stoppage time. Rayan Ait-Nouri raced clear down the left on to Rayan Cherki’s superb through-ball and crossed for Semenyo to convert his sixth City goal in 11 appearances in all competitions.
Frustrations boiled over at the final whistle for Farke who was shown a red card after he charged over to the officials in an angry manner.
Leeds are still sitting pretty comfortably in the relegation battle though. They are six points above the drop zone but Tottenham can go ahead of them if they beat Fulham, live on Sky Sports at 2pm tomorrow.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Daniel Farke was shown a red card for seemingly some strong words aimed towards referee Peter Bankes and the match officials after Leeds’ loss to Manchester City
Pep: CL qualification is the main aim for the club
Man City head coach Pep Guardiola to Sky Sports:
“One game at a time. Recover now and start the real season when there are many, many games and everyone’s tired.
Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki (left) and Leeds United’s Jayden Bogle battle for the ball
“We’re playing against teams who are [going] down on playing for Europe. So every game is really tough just like today. The Premier League is more competitive than ever. It’s a real battle but it’s important to make a real step to qualify for the Champions League next season. It’s the main, main target for the club. Because in the last 10 years we have always been there, the only Premier League team to be there.
“There’s a gap, it’s not done, but it’s a big gap and the first step is massive.
“What happened in the past is in the past. You want to tell me what’s going to happen against Nottingham Forest? I don’t have an answer for that. When we won 13 or 14 games in a row to win the Premier League against Liverpool, I never knew when we would win 13 or 14 in a row. It’s just one game at a time, we have three days [until Nottingham Forest].
“And after we have FA Cup – thank you so much for letting us play at 8pm instead of 3pm so we have less recover to play Real Madrid. So again thank you so much. This is what you have to live, but you have to deal with that.”
Leeds ‘disappointed’ with boos for Ramadan stoppage
Edmund Riemer, Leeds’ assistant manager, said the club are “disappointed” after a small number of fans booed a stoppage to allow players observing Ramadan to break fast.
Riemer was standing in for Farke, who was sent off at full-time.
In the 12th minute of the game, the referee blew his whistle to allow Muslim players to break fast during the holy month of Ramadan. There were smattering off boos from the home end during the break in play.
The Premier League confirmed before the start of Ramadan, play will be stopped in games to allow players to break fast.
“I am focussed on the game. Disappointed with some supporters and we learn from it,” Riemer said.
Guardiola said the boos were “unfortunate” and fans must “respect the religion, respect the diversity”.
“It’s the modern world, right? You know what happened in the world again today, right?,” he said.
“Respect the religion, respect the diversity. That is the point. It’s the rule, we didn’t say that. It was the Premier League who said: for the fasting, you can spend one or two minutes in the game to do that, for the players to do it. So, yeah it’s what it is. Unfortunate.”
Ait-Nouri adding edge to City’s control
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
If ever you needed a moment to showcase just how Pep Guardiola is changing from a tactical standpoint, the winning goal at Leeds was just that. A Manchester City full-back in Rayan Ait Nouri charged forward into space. Not drifted infield. Not recycled possession. Ran forward and created the winning goal.
This is a different dimension to City. For years under Guardiola, the full-backs have been playmakers or defence-first thinking players rather than sprinters. Think of Joao Cancelo inverting or Josko Gvardiol shutting down the opposition in one vs ones.
But Ait-Nouri is providing something Guardiola’s side have quietly lacked. Direct, aggressive running down the left flank.
Old-school wing play delivered by a modern full-back with quality with his final ball.
The assist itself was precise and composed, but it was the journey that did the damage. Leeds were not expecting it. In a Guardiola structure built on control, Ait-Nouri injected chaos and it’s these moments of unpredictability that could prove to be a huge weapon in this title race.
