Semenyo strike gives City three vital points at Elland Road

It was a hard-fought victory against a determined and energetic Leeds side who spurned a number of guilt-edged chances in the first period.

Semenyo struck two minutes into first-half added time  after a lovely move involving Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki.

The win keeps City hard on the heels of leaders Arsenal who play Chelsea on Sunday.

The Game in 250 words

City had to weather an early storm at Elland Road.

Leeds United came flying out of the blocks and should have been ahead on four minutes.

Brenden Aaronson’s cross from the right found the unmarked Dominic Calvert-Lewin but he tried to be too precise and put the ball inches wide from six yards out.

On 17 minutes, Calvert-Lewin was guilty of another miss from close range, poking and angled chance just wide and four minutes after that  Aaronson’s effort from a Jayden Bogle’s cross went inches wide.

The Blues were on the ropes.

City gradually started to take control and press the hosts back, but on 40 Aaronson broke clear only to be denied by Donnarumma.

A minute later, Nico O’Reilly should have given City what would have been an undeserved lead as he powered a header goalwards from six yards but it was straight at Karl Darlow who did well to keep the ball out.

A goalless first 45 looked a decent outcome for the Blues, but two minutes into added time, a wonderful move saw City break the deadlock.

Rayan Cherki played a sumptuous threaded pass to Rayan Ait-Nouri whose low cross was slid home by Antoine Semenyo.

After the break, it was all about controlling the narrative, with City dominating possession.

Semenyo and Marc Guéhi went close with half-chances as the Blues pinned the home side back.

Leeds rallied in the final 10 minutes or so, but the City rear-guard stood firm to secure a vital win.

Teams

Leeds United: Darlow, Bogle (James 76), Justin (Piroe 87), Rodon (Bijol, 87), Struijk, Gudmundsson; Stach, Ampadu, Gruev (Gnonto 76), Aaronson (Nmecha 65); Calvert-Lewin

Subs: Perri, Bornauw, Longstaff, Tanaka

City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guéhi, Ait-Nouri, Rodrigo, Bernardo (C), O’Reilly (Reijnders 70), Semenyo, Cherki (Ake 87)i, Marmoush (Savinho 68)

Subs: Trafford, Stones, Doku, Nico, Khusanov, Foden

Attendance: 36,838

Man of the Match

An assist and a clean sheet - not to mention a superb all-round performance sees Rayan Ait-Nouri take star man honours.

It could have been any of our back four, in truth, or the excellent Rayan Cherki, but our flying Algerian left-back takes the honours this time.

Bernardo and Rodri were also outstanding.

City defence shines

It was defending of the highest calibre in difficult conditions at hostile and noisy Elland Road.

Leeds United came our with fierce determination, speed and a high press and at times, the Blues were clinging on.

But to a man, each member of our back-line delievered a top class performance.

Donnarumma stood tall when needed, Matheus Nunes rarely put a foot wrong and Ait-Nouri continues to blossom at left-back.

And Ruben Dias and Marc Guéhi were immense in the air and on the floor - because Leeds would have blown most teams away in that opening 30 minutes or so.

This was a huge win for the Blues - not pretty, but stoic and full of fight, determination and vigour.

Guardiola reaction

“We make a thousand million passes and we controlled the transition and then in the last 20 minutes we created a little bit more. [This is a] huge victory to still be there.

“All of the teams are like [Leeds] but Bernardo and Rodri did really well. Once again the guys make an extraordinary effort because otherwise it is not possible.

“One game at a time. Recovery, there are many games, people are tired. Every game is really, really tough.

“Yesterday Wolves won. The Premier League is better than ever. To qualify for the Champions League is the main target for the club because for the last 10 years we have been there.

“You want me to tell me what is going to happen against Nottingham Forest? I don’t know. Thank you so much for letting us play in the FA Cup at 8pm [against Newcastle next Saturday] and then travel to Real Madrid.”

SEMENYO reaction

“The guitar celebration? Yeah, a few friends said I should do something funny, so it’s the first thing that came up in my head. Nice guitar, good performance ,the crowd loved it and that’s it. 

“It means everything [to close the gap]. We just want to win all our games on our side and whatever Arsenal do we’ll have to wait and see.

“We have to control what we can control.

“It’s the attention to detail, everyone’s focused. It’s not lacking. When you do that in training it follows into games and everyone just wants to win.

“Everyone’s just majorly focused, and that shift in mentality is so crazy. Little things and making sure you’re in tip-top shape.”

What it means

City move to within two points of leaders Arsenal who are in action on Sunday at home to Chelsea.

The Blues are on 59 points having played the same amount of games as the Gunners - 28.

We are also now eight points clear of third placed Aston Villa.

		Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1		Arsenal Arsenal	28	18	7	3	56	21	35	61
2		Manchester City Man City	28	18	5	5	57	25	32	59
3		Aston Villa Aston Villa	28	15	6	7	38	30	8	51

What’s next?

City face Nottingham Forest at the Etihad this Wednesday (4 March) in the Premier League.

The game kicks off at 19:30 (UK).

Then we travel to Tyneside for the third time this season to face Newcastle United in the FA Cup 5th round.

Kick-off at St James’ Park is 20:00 (UK) on Saturday 7 March.

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Wed 04 Mar

Premier League

Man City

19:30

GMT

N Forest