Leeds 0-1 Man City: Semenyo fires City to within two points of leaders Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester City picked up a vital three points at Elland Road this afternoon, to send them just two points behind Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.

Antoine Semenyo scored the only goal of the game, that coming on the stroke of half-time as he slid in and found the net from close range, with Erling Haaland ruled out earlier in the day due to injury.

Players from both sides angrily confronted each other at full time after Daniel Farke was shown red for protests directed towards referee Peter Bankes, but the Lilywhites remain five points clear of the drop zone.

As It Happened

Headline news ahead of the game was that Haaland was not featured in Manchester City’s squad, with Pep Guardiola bringing Rayan Cherki in from the off in place of the Norwegian. Meanwhile, Daniel Farke named an unchanged side following Leeds’ 1-1 draw at Villa Park last weekend.

Leeds missed a golden opportunity in the opening stages as Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed from inside the area with nobody around him. Semenyo picked up Man City’s first chance of the game, but fired high and wide b before being ruled offside.

A short break in play came on the 12th minute, to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast. Calvert-Lewin came close again shortly after, twisting and turning in the box before dragging a left-footed shot wide of the post. The first shot on target of the afternoon came through James Justin who saw his long-range strike confidently saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The hosts went agonisingly close again in the 20th minute as Brenden Aaronson missed from close range under the challenge of Marc Guehi. The Citizens began to grow into the game towards the end of the first-half, having withstood a lot of pressure from the hosts.

However, it was Aaronson who came closest yet again as he broke through the City defence after a great ball from Anton Stach but Donnarumma was on hand to prevent an opener. At the other end, both Omar Marmoush and Nico O’Reilly saw shots well saved by Karl Darlow.

Right on the stroke of half-time Semenyo and Manchester City found the opening goal to get their noses in front, as the forward tapped home from inside the six-yard box after a brilliant run and pass from Ryan AIt-Nouri. Meaning the visitors took a 1-0 lead into the break.

Leeds started strongly in the second-half, as Calvert-Lewin saw his shot blocked by Matheus Nunes inside the penalty area.

City’s first real chance of the second period came on the hour mark, after a miss-hit shot from Ruben Dias ended up at Marmoush’s feet but the Egyptian couldn’t convert the chance.

The hosts made their first change of the game with 25 minutes left to play, as Aaronson was replaced by former Manchester City youth product Lukas Nmecha.

Ait-Nouri flashed wide from distance just a few minutes later before Marmoush was withdrawn in favour of Savinho.

O’Reilly’s evening came to an end in the 69th minute due to injury, with Tijjani Reijnders his replacement.

Darlow was called into action shortly after to palm away an effort from Guehi whose header looked destined for the top corner. More changes followed for Leeds as Daniel James and Wilfried Gnonto were introduced in favour of Jayden Bogle and Ilia Gruev.

The Whites continued to push for a leveller, with countless balls in and around the area being well defended by City only for the bombardment to continue until Cherki cleared his lines to relieve some pressure.

Leeds won a corner with just over five minutes of regular time remaining, much to distaste of Dias who believed it should have been a goal kick instead.

Ultimately, the corner was cleared away by City after Donnarumma picked up the first yellow card of the night.

Minutes later, The Peackocks won yet another corner, this time conceded by Guehi who put the ball behind off the back of a cross from James.

Joel Piroe and Jaka Bijol were then brought into proceedings for the final minutes, as they replaced Justin and Joe Rodon in their quest to find an equaliser. Bijol came close with his first touch, as he headed wide from the aforementioned corner.

City made a change of their own in a bid to protect their lead, as Cherki was replaced by Nathan Aké for the remainder of the match. The home side looked to cause chaos in the box again, this time from an Ethan Ampadu long throw but as six minutes of additional time were confirmed, the ball was comfortably dealt with by City.

Savinho and Ait-Nouri made their way into the referee’s notebook after being deemed to have time wasted as City looked to run down the clock by any means necessary to secure the three points.

Leeds continued to huff and puff but they just couldn’t blow the house down, with Manchester City picking up a huge win that moves them just two points behind league leaders Arsenal.

After full-time, Daniel Farke was shown a red card for his comments to referee Peter Bankes.