Manchester City 7-0 Leeds United
Manchester City went four points clear at the top of the Premier League on Tuesday night thanks to another hugely impressive performance and a thumping home win against Leeds United.
A first-half blitz blew the Whites away as Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne fired the Sky Blues out of sight. And then goals from Riyad Mahrez and a second, a thunderbolt from De Bruyne, looked like making it a third 5-0 win of the season for City, until centre backs John Stones and Nathan Ake got into the act to rack up the seven.
Highlights of the game
City have been resilient in the Premier League so far this season, conceding only nine goals; but their defence were spectators in the first half as Leeds registered a single shot while the hosts pinged in 14; the result being a three-goal lead for the Sky Blues. Leeds had a warning, on seven minutes, when Diego Llorente gave the ball away but when De Bruyne squared for Bernardo Silva the biggest surprise was that the in-form midfielder missed an open goal.
But a minute later the Sky Blues were ahead and it was sloppy Leeds defending again which opened the door. Rodri found himself with acres of space in the penalty area and Illan Meslier could only parry his attempt into the path of Foden who converted, though Stuart Dallas had a chance to clear on the line. And it was all so easy again when City doubled their lead on 13 minutes. Mahrez collected a short corner and crossed for the unmarked Grealish to nod in at the far post.
The Sky Blues were out of sight, just after the half-hour when De Bruyne took a pass from Rodri and smashed his effort past Meslier to make it three with his first goal since October. It was a punishing first half for Leeds and they just needed to keep it respectable, but City were ruthless, and they added a fourth goal just five minutes into the second half. Mahrez took a ball on the right and fired in his shot which took a deflection off Junior Firpo and nestled in the corner of the net.
City thought they had five when Foden tapped in, but he was inches offside but then, on 62 minutes the fifth arrived in emphatic fashion when De Bruyne hit a 25-yard rocket into the top corner. Stones made it 6-0, whacking the ball into the roof of the net after Meslier had made a double save and then Ake met a corner to glance home a header to complete the magnificent seven.
Key statistics
The Premier League 2021 betting odds here at SBOTOP have backed the Sky Blues to win the 2021/22 title and week after week they show us why. This was a brilliant performance against a dangerous side and the stats show just how relentless the hosts were. They had 65 per cent possession, 27 shots to five and 13 to three on target.
Manchester City have won all 12 matches in which they have scored first this season.
Pep Guardiola celebrated his 500th Premier League goal as Manchester City head coach, in just 207 games when Foden struck the first blow.
Jack Grealish’s 17th Premier League goal was the first he’s scored with his head.
What’s next?
After exiting the Carabao Cup City are fighting on three fronts this year and after a chaotic Champions League draw the Sky Blues have been paired with Sporting Lisbon in the Round of 16; Pep Guardiola will be pleased with that. And Manchester City have a Third Round FA Cup clash away to League 2 Swindon Town to look forward to in the first week in January.
Liverpool and Chelsea both play on Thursday and they will have high hopes of pegging the Sky Blues back, with home games against Newcastle United and Everton respectively. Then Manchester City are back in action with an away trip to Newcastle on Sunday.
Leeds’ Premier League 2021 results haven’t been as good as they would have hoped as an unlucky sequence of injuries has left them depleted all too often this season. And they have another tough assignment on Saturday at home to Arsenal, before heading to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Boxing Day. And Marcelo Bielsa’s side has a really tough draw in the FA Cup, away to high flying West Ham. Hopefully, he’ll have some more players back from injury.
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