Published
FootballErling Haaland released the horses
The Norwegian couldn’t wait any longer. He rushed forward and scored twice for Manchester City when the Premier League resumed on Wednesday. The Cityzens beat Leeds 3-1.
At first clumsy at the start of the match, the Norwegian still found the target twice.
AFP
Manchester City won an important victory on the ground of Leeds (3-1), which allows them to take second place in Newcastle and return to five points behind leaders Arsenal, Wednesday evening, in the last match of the 17th day of the England Championship.
Without being jostled, the Citizens had a hard time getting rid of the effective pressing of Leeds in the first period. Apart from two clear chances (1st and 31st minute), where Haaland appeared alone in front of goal but was hampered by good anticipations from Illan Meslier, Manchester City did not know how to find the solutions to threaten his opponent .
Grealish good passer, but poor finisher
Like Jack Grealish, Pep Guardiola’s training was clumsy in the last move. The English winger also missed a golden opportunity, when he was in the ideal position to score, on receiving a cross from young Rico Lewis (45th).
The defending champion finally scored the next minute, on a counterattack led by De Bruyne, who crossed for Rodri, who shifted Mahrez whose shot denied by Meslier landed on Rodri (45 + 1, 0-1) .
The Citizens secured their victory early in the second half, on a pass from Grealish for Haaland (51st, 0-2), then resisted the timid reaction of Leeds before seeing the Norwegian ogre score a third goal, still on a pass from the former Aston Villa player (64th, 0-3), before a reduction in the score (Pascal Struijk, 73rd, 1-3).
Twenty goals in 14 matches
With this new double, Haaland brings his total in the league to 20 goals in 14 matches.
While his last assist in the league dated back to May, Grealish sent an important message to Pep Guardiola, who would consider parting with him during the winter transfer window.
During Boxing Day on Monday, Arsenal put pressure on City by overthrowing West Ham (3-1) after being down 1-0, thus consolidating their place as leaders of the championship.
(AFP)