November 29, (THEWILL) — Phil Foden netted twice within the opening and closing moments of their Saturday fixture to guide Manchester City past Leeds United 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
The England forward needed just 25 seconds to open the scoring, controlling Matheus Nunes’ delivery from the right before directing the ball in off the crossbar.
Goalkeeper Lucas Perri initially denied Foden a second goal with a sharp save and Jayden Bogle blocked another effort, but the Leeds shot-stopper then made a costly error.
He punched a corner against Nico O’Reilly, leaving Josko Gvardiol to roll the ball into an empty goal and double City’s advantage within the first 25 minutes.
Leeds mounted a spirited comeback after Dominic Calvert-Lewin entered at half-time.
The substitute reduced the deficit four minutes after the restart when Nunes mishandled a clearance, then won a penalty after Gvardiol fouled him in the box.
Nmecha’s initial spot-kick was pushed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma but the Leeds striker reacted quickest to slot home the rebound and level the contest at 2-2 in the 68th minute.
The visitors pressed forward in search of a winner but were caught out in stoppage time. Foden skipped past challenges from Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka before slotting a composed finish into the bottom corner during the first minute of 10 added on, sealing all three points for the hosts.
The result lifts City to second in the English Premier League standings, four points adrift of leaders Arsenal and two clear of Chelsea ahead of the meeting between the Blues and the Gunners on Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
