1 week ago
15
Manchester City got away with a nervous second half performance to beat Leeds United 3-2 at the Etihad.
For a long spell of the second half at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola must have been wondering which Manchester City players he could still trust. After calling out those who came into the team in midweek, he watched his Premier League starters show that caution was infectious with a dramatic collapse from a position of complete comfort.
In the end, this turned into a memorable Etihad moment. After a scrappy and competitive second half, Phil Foden rose to the occasion to rescue all three points. That Gianluigi Donnarumma raced the length of the piece to join in the celebrations showed how important this win could be.
Drop two points against Leeds after the week City had had and you could have almost written off their title chances. Guardiola has already made it clear they can't afford to give away points when Arsenal look as strong as they do.
But while the league table will look good for City, alarm bells will be ringing. A bad week almost became a disastrous one and this wasn't the kind of display to soothe nerves or ease the concerns that this side aren't ready to challenge for honours.
That Guardiola spent nearly two minutes involved in a lengthy post-match debrief with Erling Haaland showed that there were issues to pick over. Haaland showed little interest in having the conversation and regularly tried to pull himself away from the manager, only to be dragged back in. He fought his corner over whatever Guardiola had picked upon.
For a long time, it had looked like a run-of-the-mill afternoon for City. At half-time, they were in cruise control. Foden had scored inside a minute, Josko Gvardiol added a second and there was a stream of chances late in the half. The game looked over, but somehow it wasn't.
City had 14 shots in the first half, while Leeds managed just two. By the time the visitors levelled the score midway through the second half, Leeds had had five shots in the half and City just one. The transformation was as staggering as it was unexpected.
It will be made worse for Guardiola by the fact that he made it clear on Friday what he wants from his players. He tried to keep his criticism gentle, but he told those who started against Bayer Leverkusen that they hadn't played with enough bravery or ambition.
He put that down to bringing in 10 players for one game and in the first 45 minutes against Leeds, it looked like unpicking almost all of those alterations had done the trick. Matheus Nunes showed the desire to make something happen straight away and got his third assist of the season when Foden expertly converted his cross.
But after the break, this group retreated into their shells. Within 15 minutes, Donnarumma had to seemingly feign injury so Guardiola could deliver another team talk, getting all 10 outfield players in a huddle to devise a new game plan.
It made no difference. City shot themselves in the foot by gifting two goals to Leeds with some abysmal defending, but they had lost the plot on the pitch and couldn't rediscover it. When calm heads were required, there were none to be found, and Donnarumma's fourth booking in 10 Premier League appearances showed frustration was once again bubbling over.
That was how things ended at Newcastle last week and it looked like being a repeat dose until Foden rode to the rescue in stoppage time. Donnarumma joined in the celebrations and the Etihad savoured the drama. But deep down, Guardiola will know the Jekyll and Hyde nature of those performances won't lead anywhere unless things improve.
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