Phil Foden saved Manchester City from embarrassment with the last-minute goal that gave them a 3-2 win over Leeds, who are currently at the bottom of the Premier League table.
According to AFP, Pep Guardiola’s team was in risk of falling farther behind in the title chase after a second-half meltdown at the Etihad Stadium.
Before the break, Foden and Josko Gvardiol gave City a 2–0 lead, but Leeds, who were in third place, came back with goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.
Foden’s win, which was quite tense, put City in second position, four points behind Arsenal, who are in first place and play Chelsea today.
It was a much-needed triumph after losing to Newcastle last weekend and Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday in a row.
Guardiola’s choice to make 10 changes against Leverkusen didn’t work out, and the angry Spaniard said his players “didn’t try” after the team lost 2-0.
Foden, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, and Gianluigi Donnarumma were among of the stars who started for City against Leeds.
City suffered the second-worst start to a season under Guardiola and the poorest start to a season in five years.
But they just needed 59 seconds to take the lead as Foden scored from close range after Matheus Nunes’ run broke up the Leeds defense.
Leeds couldn’t keep up with City’s fast start, and Gvardiol seemed to have given the home team full control with a tap-in from Nico O’Reilly’s header in the 25th minute.
Leeds protested that Silva was offside and obscuring keeper Lucas Perri’s view, but a VAR check said the goal was still good.
Calvert-Lewin had an immediate effect after coming off the bench. He scored a clinical goal in the 49th minute after taking advantage of Nunes’ terrible pass inside the City area.
Leeds shocked everyone by tying the game in the 68th minute after Gvardiol fouled Calvert-Lewin.
Donnarumma saved Nmecha’s penalty, but the forward got back on his feet and scored from the rebound.
Haaland was unusually quiet as he chased his 100th top-flight goal, but Foden stepped up in stoppage time, skillfully finding space in the area for a cool finish that made Guardiola breathe a sigh of relief.
Leeds lost six of their last seven games, which put more pressure on manager Daniel Farke.
Brentford striker Igor Thiago scored his 11th league goal of the season with a double that helped his team beat Burnley 3-1 in west London.
Thiago scored his eighth goal in his past eight games when Axel Tuanzebe brought down Dango Ouattara in the 81st minute.
Second to last Four minutes later, Burnley got a penalty of their own after Michael Kayode fouled Jaidon Anthony. Zian Flemming scored the equalizer.
Thiago scored a minute later with a powerful shot from Jordan Henderson’s cross, and Ouattara’s rocket made the result clear in stoppage time.
Sunderland moved up to fourth place after coming back from two goals down to win 3-2 at the Stadium of Light.
The Cherries took the lead after seven minutes when Evanilson’s shot hit the post and Amine Adli scored from the rebound.
Eight minutes later, Tyler Adams made Bournemouth’s lead even bigger with a moment of wizardry. He chipped the ball over Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs from inside the center circle.
Sunderland, who moved up from the Championship last season, wouldn’t give up, and Alex Scott’s foul on Reinildo Mandava gave Enzo Le Fee a penalty in the 30th minute.
Bertrand Traore scored Sunderland’s equalizer in the 46th minute with a calm finish following Granit Xhaka’s assist.
Brian Brobbey scored the last goal for Sunderland in the 69th minute, heading in Le Fee’s cross.
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