Foden double helps Manchester City secure thrilling win over Leeds

MANCHESTER, England, Nov 29 - Manchester City's Phil Foden delivered in dramatic fashion by scoring in the first and 91st minutes for a 3-2 win over Leeds United on Saturday in a breathless finish that kept Pep Guardiola's side firmly in the Premier League title race.

The game seemed headed for a draw after second-half goals by Leeds substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha brought the visitors level but seconds into added time Foden found some space in the box and fired home to send the fans into raptures.

The victory left City second on 25 points, four behind Arsenal, who visit third-placed Chelsea (23 points) on Sunday. Leeds remain in the relegation zone in 18th with 11 points.

CITY KEEN TO PUT THINGS RIGHT

Guardiola's men were keen to put things right after two straight losses, including a 2-0 home defeat by Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday, and wasted little time.

Before the game was a minute old, Matheus Nunes worked the ball down the wing and crossed to Foden, whose first-time shot glanced off the underside of the bar and went in past goalkeeper Lucas Perri.

City continued to dominate and Josko Gvardiol doubled their lead in the 25th when he poked home a point-blank effort from a corner when Nico O'Reilly's header fell at the Croat's feet. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but the goal stood.

City were lackadaisical after the break though and Leeds' Ao Tanaka pounced on a casual attempted clearance to slide the ball to substitute Calvert-Lewin who pulled one back in the 50th minute. The former Everton striker appeared to briefly lose possession in the box but Nunes touched it into his path.

Nmecha equalised in the 68th minute. A penalty was awarded to the visitors for Gvardiol's tackle on Calvert-Lewin and although Gianluigi Donnarumma saved Nmecha's initial effort, the forward rushed in to fire the rebound into the empty net.

Foden's late goal came amid a flurry of chances for City at the death.

"I was so hungry today to play and prove to myself I could still score goals," Foden said. "I missed a few chances against Newcastle and wanted to put it right.

"The title race is never straightforward," he added. "There's always ups and downs and periods where you can't seem to get going and we've had that.

"The belief and togetherness came through at the end. Hopefully that's the case today that we can kick on from here."

CITY PLAYERS STEP UP

The victory ended a spell of two consecutive losses for City in all competitions and answered some questions about their attacking options.

Recent defeats by Newcastle United in the Premier League and Leverkusen in Europe had raised questions about Guardiola's reliance on Erling Haaland, who is one goal away from becoming the quickest to reach 100 Premier League goals.

However, Guardiola's other players stepped up on Saturday, with O'Reilly, Tijjani Reijnders and Omar Marmoush among those narrowly missing chances as City had 18 shots to Leeds' nine.

"All season he (Foden) has been so brilliant," Guardiola told beIN Sports. "I remember some players that I train at Barcelona, he arrives in the penalty spot, shooting from outside... He's the closest one I've ever seen."

Leeds had their chances, particularly in a second half sparked by Daniel Farke's changes in what looked like it might be a turning point in their season. Instead, they are stuck in the drop zone with three wins from 13 games.

Farke said his players can be proud of their performance.

"We played today one of the best sides, not just in the UK, one of the best sides in the world and definitely the best manager in the world," he said.

"Fantastic second half, we fully deserved to equalise.

"Man City is a side full of superstars, and then one minute of magic from Phil Foden ... heartbreak and unlucky for my players, but they should take a lot of pride and confidence, especially out of the second half." REUTERS