Four points after three games – VG

It’s an unusually weak start to the season for Pep Guardiola’s team. After three games, Manchester City are now in 10th place in the table with four points. At the same time, Liverpool have nine points from three games and a full pot. And Everton, which took over the leadership of the league on Saturday, have won their first four games. The weak start to the City series comes without stars Gabriel Jesús and Sergio Agüero, both injured.

– I don’t think we will see City on the normal level until they get Jesús and Agüero back, says TV 2 expert Nils Johan Semb towards the end of the match when the match tilted and Manchester City had to fight periodically to avoid defeats.

Pep Guardiola sees that they have injury problems at the club, but he would not complain after the game.

-I am not complaining for a second, but it is sad for those who are not here, says Guardiola about the decline among his star players after the game in an interview shown on TV 2.

At the same time, he praised Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa for his tactical disposition.

– Both teams wanted to attack and it was a good match. It was a fair result, says Guardiola

Because this was the game that changed the big picture several times after a great Manchester City opening.

He crashed into Kevin De Bruyne’s post already after three minutes and it was clear what was to come. Because this was a fierce showdown between Manchester City and the newly promoted Leeds, where he was tossed back and forth.

There were several who noticed:

The visiting team was going to go up after the sick 2-5 loss at home to Leicester last Sunday:

Pep Guardiola’s team had to win to keep Liverpool on top after a win and loss in the first two games after a delay in the start of the series for the team that was in the Champions League playoffs.

It was possible that the charismatic Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa had been tempted by the victorious Manchester City coming off an unusually ugly defeat in the previous match. Well, the newly promoted team came up with a high-risk plan. In the beginning, however, they got into trouble over and over again. City were able to steal the ball on several occasions and still have dangerous chances.

When Raheem Sterling shot home, brought out the Leeds defense and put the ball wonderfully into the far post behind Illan Meslier in Leeds’ goal in the 17th minute, it was nothing short of deserved for the away team to take the lead. And continued. After 22 minutes, City had delivered deliveries every two minutes.

But Leeds caught up in the fourth quarter of the first half and when Mendy misfired and gave Luke Ayling a great chance just before the referee flew into the break, the match had changed the face of the match. Suddenly, it was Leeds who chased the tie after City’s violent opening of the game.

– It is not only in defense where they have problems. They also have trouble attacking, says TV 2 expert and former Totteham goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt of Manchester City.

And when Leeds manager Bielsa brought in Ian Poveda and later Rodrigo Moreno, things got even faster for the home team. At 59 minutes, it was only substitute Rodrigo Moreno who had put the ball into goal after a solid failure from Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, who acknowledged that he hit his teammate Mendy before he finished with the Leeds player.

But the substitutes had gotten really demanding for the City players, including Mendy, who was replaced.

And then the game moved back and forth and the Manchester City players ran out of pressure towards Leeds. And City’s final sprint didn’t help either, even though they were close to deciding the game. Manchester City have ended up behind in the hard-fought opening game of the season. At the same time, Leeds is now in fifth place with seven points from four games.

– We are happy to have scored a point against a very good team. We know they have defensive weaknesses, which are not experienced too often when playing against such a good team, Leeds player Kalvin Phillips tells Sky Sports after the game.