Five Things Learned: Manchester City 3-2 Leeds United (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City emerged narrow victors on Saturday afternoon and secured 3-2 win in a chaotic clash against Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium.

The hosts came out of the blocks flying on their return to domestic action, as within seconds an excellent pass from Bernardo Silva found Matheus Nunes, who fizzed a low cross into the area which Phil Foden hammered home to give the Blues the perfect start.

Subsequently, with 20 minutes of the first period remaining, a great set-piece delivery from Tijjani Reijnders was helped on by Nico O’Reilly, allowing Josko Gvardiol to force the ball past Lucas Perri and double the lead for Pep Guardiola’s side.

That goal eventually saw the Blues through till half-time but the 45 minutes that followed can only be described as catastrophic. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jake Bijol were introduced upon the restart as a roll of the dice by Daniel Farke – with the German manager trying to turn the tide of the fixture – and the former Everton man certainly did.

Just four minutes into the second 45 minutes, issues all too familiar from the previous campaign reared their ugly heads after a defence that can only be described as calamitous by the Manchester City backline allowed the persistent Calvert-Lewin to seize back the ball and poke it past Gianluigi Donnarumma to pull one back for Leeds United.

That goal breathed new life into the visitors as they began to put those in sky blue under considerable pressure, knocking on the door of an equaliser and once again the hosts caused their own problems: a terribly timed sliding challenge from Gvardiol on Calvert-Lewin in the 68th minute gave Leeds a golden opportunity to level matters.

Donnarumma was equal to the spot kick from Lukas Nmecha but the Italian was powerless in preventing the follow-up from bulging the net and just like that, from such a promising position, the Blues had thrown away their advantage.

All was not lost for City however, as in the first of 10 additional minutes, a rejuvenated Foden took matters into his own hands and unleashed a superb strike into the bottom corner to give his side the lead once again and break Leeds United hearts, securing three points in a rather eventful affair.

Here are five things we learnt from that frantic 3-2 victory over Leeds United!

1. Phil Foden – Form is temporary, class is permanent

Before highlighting the obvious issues from this meeting with Farke’s men, it is only fair to give plaudits to those deserving of it and one man in particular – who is due his flowers – is Foden, without whom City would have dropped points for the third time in a week on Saturday.

Two excellent goals at opposite ends of the tie – the first with less than a minute on the clock and the second in borrowed time allowed by the fourth official – were two excellent finishes which proved to be the difference between the two sides.

The Stockport-born star took the game by the scruff of the neck and snatched three points for City in a rather dire situation. Glimmers of the Phil Foden we saw two seasons ago, wherein he netted 19 league goals and led his boyhood club to the league title.

That is now three goals in 11 appearances in this Premier League season for Foden and if he can use this performance to rekindle his goalscoring prowess, he will once again be an invaluable asset to Guardiola.

After the game, the Manchester City academy graduate spoke to Sky Sports and said: “I was so hungry just to play today, not to prove to anyone but myself that I can still score. I was a bit frustrated in the last game against Newcastle; I had a few chances I missed, so it’s been on my mind to put it right, and I was delighted to put two away.

“Hopefully we can kick on from here now. But you never know what to expect; every team in the Premier League is so difficult to beat at the moment. We just have to keep growing, putting in work on the training pitch, improving as a team, and hopefully we can be there.

“A title race is never straightforward. There’s always ups and downs and periods where you can’t seem to get going and find results, and I think we’ve found that recently in the last two games.

“I’m just delighted with the courage and heart the lads showed to keep going and believing we were going to win, and overall I think the belief and togetherness came through in the end.”

2. Nico O’Reilly is a special talent

Defensively, Manchester City may have been far below the standard so far this term but that was by no means the fault of the newest cab off the CFA rank – Nico O’Reilly – who continued his long line of consistent strong performances out of position at full-back – having seemingly secured his spot on the left side of defence.

O’Reilly was a shining light in a rather concerning performance by and large for the Blues, as he excelled in all areas of the pitch, winning the most duels of any player (nine), creating the most chances (three) and also providing an assist for City’s second.

That is now four goal contributions in his last four Premier League appearances at the Etihad Stadium, an impeccable return for the 20-year-old.

O’Reilly has justifiably burst onto the scene this season, becoming part of the fixtures and fittings at Manchester City and earning his first ever senior England call-up. If he can continue this impressive form, the upward trajectory for his future is undeniable.

3. A game of two halves

In the opening half, Manchester City were nothing short of dominant, taking a comfortable two-goal cushion into the interval after a professional display from the home side which saw them limit their opposition to just two shots on goal, neither of which were on target.

The Blues had the lion’s share of possession and managed six shots on Perri’s goal. It was a textbook half and perhaps the one the majority expected.

What followed, however, was the polar opposite of the first half, as the Leeds United pressure saw those charged with protecting the City goal completely and utterly capitulate, which nearly cost them massively.

The inconsistency in performances for the eight-time Premier League champions is perhaps a sign that the Blues are not quite ready to contend for their stolen crown yet given the inexperience of the new-look side, so it may be time to accept that the title is out of the question as this campaign may be a transitional period for the Catalan and his players.

4. Defensive disarray

That defensive display from the former treble winners is nothing short of inexcusable. Yes, they may have won the game, which is what is most significant, but with all due respect to Leeds United, it simply should not have been that complicated.

Passages of play in that second-half were not too dissimilar from the abhorrent 2024-25 season as those in sky blue were architects of their own downfall, making fundamentally unacceptable errors.

The mistake that resulted in the Calvert-Lewin goal should never happen at this level, and it put Guardiola’s side in a needlessly precarious position in a game they were dominating.

The foul from Gvardiol was equally as inept, attempting a rash slide tackle in your 18-yard box at 2-1 in a desperate attempt to prevent a goal to instead get nowhere near the ball and present Leeds with the chance to undo all of City’s prior work from the spot.

If Manchester City wish to once again rise to levels of years gone by, this self-inflicted adversity cannot continue to be a feature of this team.

5. Three points…just

At the end of the day, it’s another invaluable win for Guardiola’s side and hopefully one that will help the residents of the Etihad Stadium build up a head of steam and get back to winning ways after a rather miserable week for the club on the whole – following defeats to Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen.

Those of a white and blue persuasion will be optimistic that despite the poor performance, this chaos-filled game can be one to learn from to eventually improve in the coming weeks with important fixtures on the horizon!