Man City 3-2 Leeds: Phil Foden spared Pep Guardiola's blushes with late winner but make no mistake, this was City's WORST performance of the season — Mail 29/11/25
By JACK GAUGHAN
Walkabouts around pitch perimeters in the minutes after
matches are now described as laps of appreciation rather than honour. It’s a
good job really - there was no honour for Manchester City here, just mild
self-loathing.
That or relief. But this was more the obnoxious din of an
alarm clock. A wake-up call that bolted City upright. Despite the academy jewel
Phil Foden’s stunning stoppage-time winner and all the joy that ought to
illicit, it was their worst afternoon of the season.
An afternoon where the first team followed Tuesday’s second
string in not appearing at all certain among themselves, faith visibly
evaporating as Leeds United pulled two goals back within 23 minutes of the
restart, first by the inspired half time substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin and
then ex-City academy forward Lukas Nmecha tucking in his saved penalty.
That Foden’s force of will in making sure they went back
within four points of leaders Arsenal – backing up his opener after 59 seconds
– was required against this Leeds team can only serve as worrisome for Pep
Guardiola. The answer to who scores if Erling Haaland suffers a bad day was
only ever going to produce one name and that Foden stepped up is something to
cling to for City but the rest? Let’s just say the November international break
has a lot of explaining to do.
Before then, Guardiola appeared at ease. City weren’t
purring yet seemed in control, aware that historically this is not the moment
of the campaign they motor. That comes later. Four wins in all competitions
after a lacklustre but by no means abject defeat at Aston Villa, Rayan Cherki
beginning to find his feet, Matheus Nunes resembling an actual right back and
Nico Gonzalez making you forget about Rodri, however briefly.
That has gone and soundly beating Liverpool feels a lifetime
ago, not three weeks. The colour drained from the faces of the City bench as
Leeds took this to 2-2, the courage and tactical acumen shown by the visitors
surely buying Daniel Farke at least a few more weeks.
From Nmecha’s equaliser on 68 minutes, this felt like
stoppage time. City rushed, Guardiola hopped and panicked. There have of course
been games at the Etihad Stadium across this manager’s reign when all seemed
lost from a fair way out but this had an aimlessness to it until Foden took
matters into his own hands. His brace means Burnley’s Maxime Esteve is no
longer City’s second top scorer behind Haaland.
Before that moment, shimmying across two defenders and
arrowing home, City were lost.
Ruben Dias complained of Leeds timewasting without irony, a
man who had earlier implored Gianluigi Donnarumma to go down so Guardiola could
conduct a tactical debrief. Donnarumma was booked for dissent, remarkably now
only one yellow card away from a suspension.
Josko Gvardiol, who had earlier scored the second from a
corner, passed one sideways ball straight out of play. That was after poleaxing
Calvert-Lewin for Nmecha’s penalty. Nunes made not one but two major errors in
the build-up to Calvert-Lewin’s earlier goal. Bernardo Silva attempted a dive
to win a penalty. A catalogue of indignation.
Leeds were excellent when altering to 3-5-2, Farke showing
that there is something here in this relegation battle. ‘Heartbreak for my
players but they should take lots of pride,’ Farke said. ‘We didn’t come here
for warm words and the feeling is disappointment but it gives us belief.’
City will need to hope this acts as a springboard, to banish
the annoyance of injustice at Newcastle United and then the mind-bendingly poor
display against Bayer Leverkusen. Guardiola suggested the team he picked in the
Champions League were fragile, that they don’t believe in themselves. Some of
them out there against Leeds didn’t seem to either, so what the City manager
decides to do at Fulham in the week should be fascinating.
Man City looked set to drop more points in the title race
until Foden's superb late winner
‘It's definitely a relief,’ Guardiola said. ‘We’re not a
team to win this type of game a lot. Our game was not (good). Before the goal
we had two or three chances to score. The points were massively important for
our mood after two defeats. Football is emotions.
‘Maybe we can learn to win these type of games, to bring the
balls quicker to the box. These are not tactics, strategies, it’s just put the
ball in there for the chaos and you score. Pep Lijnders is now with me and how
many times did Liverpool win these games?’
Guardiola pointed towards missed opportunities before half
time, when Gvardiol and Nico O’Reilly squandered chances, and he is right
because City might have gone in four goals clear. Were that to have happened
then Farke’s alterations, Calvert-Lewin’s influence and City’s nervousness,
doesn’t come into play. Perhaps once this settles, they will see it as
beneficial to have gone through. Just not today.
