Manchester City won against Leeds United in the Premier League and remains close to leaders Arsenal.
Antoine Semenyo (45th + 2) scored for the favorites in the narrow 1-0 win at the stadium on Elland Road.
Coach Pep Guardiola’s team is second in the table with 59 points and has moved within two points of leaders Arsenal FC. The “Gunners” can restore the old distance against Chelsea on Sunday (5.30 p.m.).
The newcomer from Leeds, coach Daniel Farke’s team, has 31 points and is in 15th place. The cushion on the first relegation spot is six points.
Leeds with the better start
The home team had the first big chance. Brenden Aaronson had plenty of space on the right side and crossed sharply inside. Then Dominic Calvert-Lewin rushed up and narrowly passed the ball to the left of the goal.
Man City had a lot of problems at the beginning with the opponent’s high pressing. Driven by their own fans, Leeds played courageously forward. And the “Peacocks” initially didn’t allow much on the defensive either. The “Skyblues” hardly even got into depth; Erling Haaland was missing as a target player up front. The Norwegian is ailing.
The next chance for Leeds came in the 17th minute. After a long pass, Calvert-Lewin went up and down the left side, then nibbled on his opponent Marc Guehi, but then put the ball just wide of the box. And a little later, Jayden Bogle won the ball in a duel with Rayan Ait Nouri, but Aaronson was unable to use the low cross and put the ball to the right of the goal.
Man City gets rolling and scores
It was only after half an hour that Man City were able to establish themselves in their opponents’ half. Leeds could hardly provide any relief and were only dangerous on a counterattack. After a bad pass from Rodri, Anton Stach sent Aaronson on his way, but he was denied by City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The fact that Leeds didn’t take advantage of their chances took their toll. Because City came. United goalkeeper Karl Darlow had to do everything he could to deal with a powerful header from Nico O’Reilly. But it happened shortly before halftime. Rayan Cherki sent a perfect pass into the penalty area to Ait Nouri, who immediately passed the ball inside. There Semenyo strode up and pushed the ball over the line from close range.
City controls the game
Leeds surprisingly had the first big chance in the second half – and again it was Calvert-Lewin. His shot was just blocked by Matheus Nunes after a cross from Stach.
But that didn’t change the situation, because Man City was and remained the better team and controlled the game. The favorite waited patiently for his chances. And there were those too, for example for Omar Marmoush, Ait Nouri and Semenyo, but they left them behind. United goalkeeper Darlow really excelled with a header from Guehi, which he fished out of the corner.
Leeds in the Final offensive luckless
Overall, the second round had fewer chances and was less spectacular. This was because City then managed the lead instead of consistently going for the second goal.
That almost took revenge. United came back with force in the final offensive – but in the end it wasn’t enough to equalize. After the final whistle and a hectic stoppage time, Leeds coach Farke was shown a red card by referee Peter Bankes.
