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Pep Guardiola says he is not concerned as Manchester City sit in the middle of the Premier League table with a win, a loss and a draw in their first three games.
Leeds took a point from City in their clash at Elland Road on Saturday, with Rodrigo leveling the game in the 59th minute after Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the first half.
City are now 11th in the table with just four points, but Guardiola says it is too early to worry about their position.
“I know the situation we are in, I know what we are coming from this season. As a manager I am satisfied with what they have done so far,” Guardiola said.
Rodrigo pounced on Ederson’s error to equalize after an hour on Saturday
When asked about his team’s hopes of keeping up with defending champion Liverpool, Guardiola replied: “I’m not going to start after three games to think if they are going to win the league or if they are going to take a lot of advantages. what it is.
“I know when we finished last, I know when we come back this season with the players we have and as a coach I am satisfied with what they have done so far. We had to fix some things, we are still a bit far from the best possible way. Unfortunately , we lost five points. “
City had enough chances early in the first half to have left the result out of the question, but Leeds grew in both confidence and stature after an early storm and created plenty of opportunities.
“It was an entertaining game, a good game,” he added. “It was two teams trying to win from minute one to minute 90. We had good moments, the first 30 minutes, but [we should have] made a margin greater than the [final] Outcome.
Leeds’ substitutes had a decisive impact on the match in the second half
“But Leeds had their moments because they are an incredible team, a fantastic team.
“They destroyed the Championship last season and they have done very well so far, but in the last 10 minutes we were there, trying to win. It was a good game.”
Having ridden through the storm, Leeds grew in competition and leveled off in the 59th minute.
Ederson made a hash of his attempt to clear Kalvin Phillips’ corner and Rodrigo fumbled from close range.
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The City goalkeeper made amends soon after when he pushed Rodrigo’s header towards the crossbar as Leeds seemed more likely to find a winner.
“It was possible to win the game, but it would not have been fair to have won,” said Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa. “We had to exert immense physical effort to be on a level playing field or slightly better than Manchester City for half of the game. We had to survive the beginning of the first half and the end of the second half.
“If you look at when Guardiola made a defensive change when Fernandinho comes in, that’s when they started to prevail in the game once again. It was a very smart substitution and he had a great influence on the game.”
‘We gave them too much respect in the beginning’
Kalvin Phillips thinks Leeds was good value for money in the end
Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips was banned from the game in the first 20 minutes with City dominating, but a personnel change at half-time allowed the hosts to take hold, and Guardiola’s side have now failed to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since December 2018.
Phillips said Sky sports: “A lot of the game goes through me, so they looked to catch me, they did it in the first half. It was hard work.
“We know it is a very good offensive team, but we know it has defensive weaknesses. I think in the second half we came out on top and we had some opportunities that you don’t get when you play in good teams. I’m happy to get a point on the board in a contest against a very good team.
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“We gave them too much respect in the first 20 but we came out in the second half, we did a couple of tackles and counterattacks. I think we did well because City were always going to come here wanting to win and we never did. I want to lose at home. We are very offensive and so are they, so it was something from start to finish. It was hard work at times, but we did well as a team. “
‘Errors keep creeping in’
Micah Richards from Sky Sports:
“I watch a lot of city games, I’m usually very positive about how expansive they are, but it seems like there are a lot of defensive mistakes creeping into their game. It keeps happening week after week. If they want to be a challenge to the top, you have to eradicate them.
“They have spent a lot of money on defenders and we know that it is necessary to rectify in the rear. We have seen Joao Cancelo being bought and Nathan Ake not playing today. I just hope that this time there is progress with Ruben Dias. I just want to be spending money on the problem all the time.
“Pep is a great coach and he needs to coach some of these players. Tell them what’s wrong, so it’s disheartening to see when someone doesn’t do well for a year, buy another player for £ 50 million. That’s right. what I don’t do. I want to see more. “
Whats Next?
After the international break, Leeds host the Wolves on Monday Night Football on October 19; start 8pm.
Manchester City host Arsenal on Saturday 17 October, live on Sky Sports, in the Premier League; coverage begins at 5 pm starting at 5:30 pm.
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