Our dominant first half performance was rewarded as Matty Whittingham assisted his 10th goal of the campaign with a ball through to Ashton Muir who gave us the lead.
Emilio Lawrence added a second after the break before Whittingham got his name on the scoresheet less than 10 minutes later to secure all three points.
DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL MAN CITY APP
WHAT HAPPENED
City came into the contest knowing that three points would widen the gap between us and Sunderland in second.
And this was replicated by our fast and ferocious start.
Ben Wilkinson selected an attacking team, who were interchanging in the final third of the pitch and carved out numerous chances and controlled possession.
The deadlock was broken with 10 minutes of the first half remaining.
Matty Whittingham fed Ashton Muir with a slide through pass and the Scotsman remained calm to slot in past Rory Mahady in the Leeds goal.
In the opening phases of the second half, the Whites provided more threat on the counter attack but we held firm and passed through the thirds defiantly.
And our dominance was rewarded further, as Muir with some fine wing play, assisted Emilio Lawrence who fired in our second.
Less than 10 minutes later, Matty Whittingham, who was causing trouble for the Leeds defence all afternoon, ran through the back line and tapped in from substitute Alfie Harrison’s ball to add a third.
City held out to make it seven matches unbeaten and back-to-back 3-0 victories in the league.
HOW WE LINED UP
George Murray-Jones returned in goal for this fixture, with a back four of Jacob Wright, Kian Noble, Max Alleyne and Seb Naylor protecting him.
Nico O’Reilly played behind Justin Oboavwoduo and Matty Whittingham in an attacking midfield trio.
Emilio Lawrence was supported by Ashton Muir and Joel Ndala in an inter-changing attacking frontline.
Leeds United Under-18s
XI: Mahady, Diboe (Dawber 77’ ), Buchan, Godden (Lopata-White 64’), Ferguson, Coleman, Toulson, Douglas (Vincent 45’), McFadden (Chaplin 71’ ), Wilson, Andreucci
Unused subs: Ombang
Manchester City Under-18s
XI: Murray-Jones, Wright, Noble, Alleyne, Naylor, Oboavwoduo, O’Reilly (C) (Fletcher 89’), Whittingham (Fapetu 89’), Muir, Lawrence (Harrison 75’), Ndala
Unused subs: Grant, Alfa-Ruprecht
WHAT IT MEANS
Victory saw us go four points clear at the summit of the Under-18s Premier League North.
However, second placed Sunderland have two games in hand over Ben Wilkinson’s side, which could see the Wearside outfit knock us off top spot, with victories in both of those fixtures.
WHAT’S NEXT
Next up, City welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the City Football Academy as both teams aim to reach the next round of the FA Youth Cup.
Kick off is scheduled at 19:00 (UK) on Tuesday 17 January.
This is before we play at home again versus Nottingham Forest who are the visitors in an Under-18s Premier League North fixture on Saturday 21 January at 12:30 (UK).
Both games are available to watch live on CITY + and Recast.
