Manchester City moved four points clear of Arsenal at the top the Premier League on Saturday, beating Leeds United 2-1 with a pair of near-identical goals from Ilkay Gundogan, although not without a dose of late drama.
City had run circles around Leeds with numerous excellent scoring chances before Gundogan struck in the 19th minute from the edge of the 18-yard box off a pass from Riyad Mahrez. Mahrez teed up Gundogan again eight minutes later in a carbon copy of his first goal.
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However, Gundogan missed a penalty on 84 minutes, which would have earned him his first career hat trick, and Leeds responded immediately with a Rodrigo goal. However, Pep Guardiola’s side closed out the match to extend their winning league run to 10 games.
“It shows how nice and generous Erling is. If it is 4-0 with 10 minutes left, OK. But at 2-0? Erling is the best penalty taker right now so he has to take it,” Guardiola told the BBC after the match.
With four matches left, City have 82 points to Arsenal’s 78, adding more pressure to Arsenal, who play Newcastle United on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Leeds, who were playing their first game under interim manager Sam Allardyce, are teetering in 17th place — all three teams below them have a game in hand.
Despite numerous scoring chances, and with the Etihad Stadium crowd cheering him on, Haaland was unable to extend the Premier League single-season record of 35 goals he set on Wednesday.
The Norway international, who is running roughshod over the record books in his debut Premier League season, could have had at least a couple of goals on Saturday, clanging one shot off the crossbar, another off the post, and narrowly missing a couple of others that left him shaking his head in frustration.
“We played an exceptional game,” Guardiola added. “Our possession game was really good. First half was exceptional. We were maybe not as clinical as we should be.
“The second half, we cannot forget it is three games in six days with a lot of mental pressure. At the end, the game could be over with the penalty. But they score and we have to suffer. But we played really, really good.”
Treble-chasing Manchester City, who play Real Madrid on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, are unbeaten in 20 games through all competitions.
