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LEEDS: Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge stumbled for the second time in its first three games when Leeds rallied to win a 1-1 draw in an open game at Elland Road.
City were beaten 5-2 at home by Leicester last weekend and seemed set to make amends with a dominating start during which Raheem Sterling opened the scoring.
However, despite handing over a debut to £ 62 million center-back Ruben Dias, Pep Guardiola’s men remained insecure on defense and Leeds tied when Rodrigo took advantage of a mistake by goalkeeper Ederson just before the hour.
City could now find themselves eight points behind Liverpool by the end of the weekend if Jurgen Klopp’s men maintain their perfect start at Aston Villa on Sunday.
A first meeting between Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa in English football was highly anticipated and did not disappoint in a throbbing match that somehow ended with just two goals.
Guardiola’s men began with the intention of calming their critics as they pounced on Bielsa’s determination that his team play from behind forcing the hosts to make mistakes with intense press.
Despite City’s continued failure to advance beyond the Champions League quarter-finals with Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne was named UEFA midfielder of the year on Thursday and the Belgian almost proved why in three minutes with an effort. impressive from a long distance free kick. the left that almost caught Illan Meslier hitting his first post.
Ferran Torres had a shot blocked down the line as City opened Leeds in the first quarter, but Bielsa’s men could have gone up front when Ezgjan Alioski headed in for a great opportunity.
City’s pressure was finally rewarded in Game 1 when Sterling came in before burying a low shot in the far corner in the 17th minute.
However, Leeds pulled itself together as the first half progressed and the city’s energy levels dropped.
Luke Ayling should have tied before the break when he pounced on poor Benjamin Mendy punt, but couldn’t beat Ederson one-on-one.
Leeds started the second half as the first ended, posing the biggest threat, especially once Bielsa introduced Rodrigo 10 minutes after the break.
The Spanish international fired a warning shot at City as his deflected shot soared over the crossbar.
But from the resulting corner, Leeds’s record signing leveled off when Ederson dropped the ball attractively at his feet.
Wild game then roared from end to end with neither side settling for a point.
Ederson corrected his error in the tie by turning Rodrigo’s header off the crossbar.
Moments later, Sterling was running behind the Leeds defense, but ran the ball too close to Meslier, who suffocated the English international’s feet.
City then became the first victim of a change in the interpretation of the handball law in the Premier League when a Leeds arm blocked Bernardo Silva’s shot that would surely have resulted in a penalty just a week earlier.
Sterling also had strong claims for a rejected penalty moments later as Leeds held on to continue their good start to life in the top flight.
Bielsa’s men have added seven points in their first four games, including meetings with Liverpool and City.
