In need of a win after Liverpool's victory at Newcastle United, Manchester City responded in style with a rout of Leeds United. However, it wasn't plain sailing for Pep Guardiola's side, who were made to work for their win during an entertaining game.
Leeds were aggressive, both on and off the ball, and regularly looked to disrupt City's rhythm when out of possession. It worked insofar as goalkeeper Meslier had little to do until the latter stages of the game, but it meant Leeds gave away numerous set-pieces, and they were duly punished.
Phil Foden found his range with the first couple of deliveries and Rodri headed home a fine cross from the left after 13 minutes, the midfielder getting a touch to send the ball home. Leeds continued their approach for the rest of the first half and, in truth, City found them very hard to deal with. There was a stoppage after a clash of heads between Laporte and Koch, and another towards the end of the first half, after Dallas seemed to seriously injure himself after a late tackle on Grealish. He was stretchered off.
While Leeds worked hard, and did a good job of nullifying City, they offered little going forwards, and Ederson didn't have much work to do until the game was already gone. The high tempo Leeds played the game at was uncomfortable for their visitors, but the home side struggled to make decisions and pick out teammates with the action being played at such a quick pace.
City got their second, this time from a corner, as Ake diverted Dias' header into the net, and that already felt like it was probably the game. Ake limped off minutes later. To their credit, Leeds continued to press and harry, and they didn't seem to lose hope, but they still offered too little in the final third.
Their shape got more and more open as they continued to look for a goal, and City began to profit. They spurned numerous chances before Foden played Jesus in on goal. Given his goalscoring form, the striker was never going to miss, and the third goal put the result beyond doubt. Leeds looked deflated, and the energy levels dropped, although they threatened to score a consolation on a few occasions towards the end.
It was City would score the final goal, though, Fernandinho driving the ball home after a hurried clearance to the edge of the area. It was harsh on Leeds, who put up a brave fight, but only one team had the quality in the final third. Guardiola's side notch up a comprehensive win to respond to Liverpool's victory earlier on, and they boost their goal difference in the process. A good day at the office for the Citizens, ahead of their match in Madrid next week.
Leeds vs. Man City final score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Leeds | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Man City | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Goals:
MAN C — Fernandinho — 93rd min.
MAN C — Jesus (Foden) — 78th min.
MAN C — Ake (Dias) — 53rd min.
MAN C — Rodri (Foden) — 13th min.
Leeds vs. Man City live updates, highlights from Premier League
Final: Leeds United 0, Manchester City 4
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Fulltime: That's all from Elland Road. Manchester City run out comfortable winners in the end, as they respond to Liverpool's win at Newcastle in style.
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93rd min: GOAL!
Sterling carries the ball into the area from the left. He's tracked by Ayling, and goes down with the Leeds defender's arm on his back. He wants a penalty, Tierney doesn't give. Striujk pokes away the loose ball, but only as far as Fernandinho, outside the area, right of centre. He fires the ball towards the post, and the low shot is under Meslier, to give City their fourth.
92nd min: Klich makes a run down the right, and the ball is lofted into his path. He cut the ball back, and Klich slides to meet it next to the penalty area. Ederson saves the shot. Two of the three added minutes done now.
90th min: Daniel James goes as close as and Leeds player has today. The ball is fed into his path in the penalty area, and he rounds Ederson who is out quickly. From a tight angle on the right, he fires at goal, but it's headed off the line by Cancelo, and the chance goes. At the other end, Gundogan is free under a dropping ball, eight yards out. He tries to place his header, but it's wide of the post.
89th min: The Leeds fans are still in good voice, and they can be proud of what they've seen today from their team. Leeds have shown a lot of spirit, and the current scoreline is harsh, but in truth they just never had the composure in the final third to match their efforts.
86th min: It's been mostly Man City in the last few minutes. As you might expect, Leeds have looked deflated after the third goal, and the away side are passing the ball around with relative ease.
83rd min: Fernandinho is on for Rodri. He joins Bernardo Silva in midfield, who came on for Foden after the third goal. Greenwood is on for Rodrigo.
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78th min: GOAL!
That should be that. Leeds are open at the back as Foden picks up the ball. Jesus runs into space, Ayling hasn't got round to cover in time. It's a good pass from Foden, who plays Jesus in, and he looks as composed as you'd expect a man scoring his 7th goal in 6 games to be, as he finishes calmly past Meslier.
77th min: City are still coming forward, with Sterling cutting in on his left before seeing a sidefooted effort blocked, but it's Leeds that are seeing more of the ball, and looking more dangerous at the moment. The final ball is still lacking though.
75th min: It's Leeds who are creating the chances now. Daniel James does well on the right before firing the ball low, across the face of goal. That's followed by a low cross from the left that's cleared at the near post.
73rd min: Leeds counter down their right this time. Raphinha cuts in onto his right, inside Laporte and Rodri. He fires at goal, but Laporte manages to get a leg in the way, diverting the ball over.
71st min: Leeds look to have a counter down their left, but City get men back. It ends up being worked across to Raphinha on the right but, with players to pick out, his cross isn't even close to finding a teammate, and it's out for a goalkick.
68th min: Jesse Marsch is blocked, to boos from the home crowd. Cancelo is booked after a late challenge, to ironic cheers from the supporters.
66th min: Ederson is out really quickly to clear a Leeds pass into the City half, after the City defence is caught up the pitch following a corner. Leeds had the ball after a stray header from Cancelo that gave away possession.
63rd min: Grealish glides past a couple of Leeds players on the left, before popping the ball inside to Ilkay Gundogan. From distance, he aims for the top corner. His effort isn't far off target. Leeds have taken Firpo off for Gelhardt, in an even more attacking reshuffle. It looks like Harrison has moved to left back.
60th min: Nathen Ake is off, with what looks like an injury. He walks off, and is replaced by Zinchenko, with an hour gone.
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59th min: Whether by instruction or instinct, City seem to be targetting Firpo, down their right hand side. He looks like the weak link, and City have managed to get past him a few times already this half.
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53rd min: GOAL!
It's another set piece goal for City. A corner from the right wing is deep, where Dias rises and head it back towards goal. Ake is in place to get the touch on Dias' header, and divert the ball into the net.
49th min: It's more of the same in the second half. Lots of energy so far. Grealish lifted a good cross across the face of goal, but Foden, Jesus, and Sterling had all stopped running at the edge of the area.
Second half: It looks like Raphinha will be playing on the right for Leeds. He's holding a fairly deep position, and City will be glad to see him away from their goal. You'd think that Ayling will try and get out into the wide areas more often, to give Raphinha licence to get forward.
Halftime: That's it from the first half. Daniel James came on for Stuart Dallas for the last minute or so, and we'll see if Leeds change their shape for the second half. Leeds have responded well to going behind though, and Pep Guardiola will be looking for an improvement in the second half.
52nd min: Stuart Dallas is still receiving treatment, and the home fans are singing his name, as they prepare to stretcher him off. Kalvin Phillips has been by his teammate's side the whole time.
48th min: The ball is moved out to Grealish on the left. Dallas tries to dive in and win it, but Grealish knocks the ball away before he can get to it. It's a late challenge from the Leeds man, who looks badly hurt. Tierney has let a few challenges of that nature go today, and maybe that's a factor. Dallas won't be able to continue, he's visibly in pain, and the stretcher is out for him.
47th min: For all their good work in this half, Leeds haven't created too much, and they've faded a little. You'd think halftime is coming at a good time for Jesse Marsch's side.
45th min: City have managed to turn the screw a little more in the last couple of minutes, with a massive chance going begging after the Leeds defence practically gave them the ball in their own penalty area. Four minutes added on from the various stoppages.
42nd min: Leeds really deserve credit for how well they've managed to knock City off their stride in this game. They're ensuring the game is played at a really high tempo, and Guardiola's side haven't been able to exert much control.
38th min: It's end to end stuff at the moment, Gundogan has to get back to head away a cross, after Leeds broke in behind. City head up the other end and Cancelo produces an excellent cross field pass find Jesus, who cuts inside but shoots tamely at Meslier.
36th min: Paul Tierney is letting quite a lot go in this game. Both teams are looking a little rushed on the ball, and neither side has really been able to impose their tempo on the game so far.
34th min: Although they're behind, Marsch won't be too disappointed with how his side have performed. They've stopped City creating much. He'll want to see a little more composure from his side in the final third, however. They're asking questions of their visitors though.
32nd min: Grealish receives the ball on the left. He skips past Dallas, before cutting inside. He's checked by Ayling, but tries to stay on his feet. He ends up falling over, and doesn't the free kick, much to his dismay.
26th min: Leeds have been very aggressive in their approach today, both with and without the ball. They gave away a few free kicks early on, disrupting City's rhythm in the final third, but giving away the set piece that led to the goal in the process.
24th min: Play stops again. Debris, from cards the fans were holding before the game, has littered the area around the pitch throughout the game. The assistant referee has called for a pause as it begins to fall on the pitch, giving the players time to clear that side of the pitch. We're back underway, again.
21st min: Surprisingly, both players continue, and we're back underway.
19th min: The players are still receiving treatment, both of them not having moved for several minutes. The players involved are Koch and Laporte. They're up now, and both players are being assessed.
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15th min: Leeds have reacted aggressively to conceding the goal. They win a free kick deep on the right, for which Grealish picks up a booking. The initial set piece comes to nothing, it's swung back in from the left, and play is stopped for a clash of heads that looked quite bad.
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14th min: GOAL!
Meslier still hasn't had too much to do, but he's had to pick the ball out of the back of his net. City win a free kick on the left, and Foden lifts it into the area. Rodri gets the better of his marker, Phillips, and his touch sees the ball nestle just inside the far post.
12th min: City have had most of the ball in the opening stages, as you'd probably expect. They've had a few corners, but Meslier hasn't had too much to do in the first ten minutes.
7th min: Grealish is playing off the left, with Phil Foden nominally the third midfielder. He's playing quite far ahead of Rodri, in the right halfspace, with Gundogan getting forward in the left channel at times.
5th min: It looks like Ayling will be playing as a centre back, with Dallas playing as a wing back. There's been a lively atmosphere in the first couple of minutes. City had a corner from the right, it was cleared to Cancelo, last man in the centre circle. His first touch is loose, and he slips as he goes to take his second. Rodrigo takes the ball off him and breaks towards goal, left of centre. He gets into the area, but he doesn't have the pace to get clear of the recovering City defenders, and ends up taking a touch too many. An early warning for the visitors.
Kickoff! We're underway at Elland Road!
5 mins from kickoff: The teams will be heading out onto the pitch in the next few minutes.
10 mins from kickoff: With the versatility that runs through this Leeds team, it's hard to know what difference Klich's inclusion will make. It's a back three, then Dallas could move to wing back, with Ayling starting in place of Cooper. Alternatively, Klich could make it a midfield three, with Phillips and Dallas.
15 mins from kickoff: There's a late change for Leeds. Klich replaces Cooper, who pulled up injured.
20 mins from kickoff: There are interesting selections from both managers here. Jesse Marsch's squad could lineup in a number of ways, including Dallas in midfield. Pep Guardiola could use Jack Grealish as part of a midfield three, or as part of a front four.
40 mins from kickoff: Phil Foden was a real threat for City in midweek. Pep Guardiola will be expecting more of the same as they come up against Leeds.
60 mins from kickoff: Three changes for the hosts.
Team news is out for the visitors. It's an attacking lineup.
Jesse Marsch's side have a tough couple of weeks ahead of them as they look to avoid relegation.
75 mins from kickoff: The Leeds team have arrived at Elland Road. We should have starting lineups from both sides in fifteen minutes.
90 mins from kickoff: The Sporting News is here ahead of Manchester City's trip to Leeds United. We'll be following the game with live updates and higlights.
Leeds vs. Man City lineups
Injuries mean that Bamford, Roberts, Forshaw, and Summerville are unavailable for Leeds. Jamie Shackleton makes the bench. Marsch has made three changes, with Firpo, Koch, and Struijk all starting. Cooper was picked to start, but he's made way for Klich after pulling up during the warmup. It's not clear what formation Leeds will line up with, but it may be a back 3.
Leeds starting lineup (5-2-3): Meslier (GK) — Dallas, Ayling, Struijk, Koch, Firpo — Klich, Phillips — Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison
Leeds subs (12): Klaesson, Llorente, Cresswell, Shackleton, Klich, Bate, James, Gelhardt, Greenwood
Kyle Walker is still unavailable, while John Stones came off in the first half against Real Madrid. Joao Cancelo will start at right back. Guardiola has named an attacking side. Jack Grealish could be in the midfield three, alongside Rodri and Gundogan, or it could be a 4-2-3-1.
Man City projected starting lineup (4-3-3): Ederson (GK) — Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Ake — Gundogan, Fernandinho, Grealish — Jesus, Foden, Sterling
Man City subs (12): Steffen, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Egan-Riley, Mbete, McAtee
How to watch Leeds vs. Man City
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| Date | April 30 | April 30 | April 30 | May 1 |
| Time | 17:30 | 12:30 p.m. ET | 12:30 p.m. ET | 2:30 a.m. AET |
| TV channel | Sky Sports Premier League | USA Network | — | — |
| Streaming | NOW TV | fuboTV | DAZN | Optus Sport |
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