Manchester City clashed heads with Leeds United at Elland Road earlier this evening hoping to bounce back from their humiliating 5-2 home defeat at the hands of Leicester City last weekend. Pep Guardiola’s men made a strong start to the match and took the lead in the 17th minute courtesy of Raheem Sterling’s goal. However, the Whites came back into the game with a vengeance but couldn’t manage to get themselves back level in the first half.
The West Yorkshire outfit kept pushing after the half-time break and finally got the all-important equaliser when Rodrigo scored in the 59th minute after pouncing on a mistake from Ederson. Both teams fought tooth and nail in the remainder of the contest but couldn’t make another breakthrough as the match finished 1-1 after the full-time whistle.
Let’s take a look at how each Man City player fared during the match against the Whites.
GK: Ederson – 6/10
The Brazilian keeper was guilty of not clearing his lines in the lead-up to Leeds’ equaliser. However, he made amends for his error by making a few important saves to salvage a point for his team.
RB: Kyle Walker – 7/10
The English right-back defended well at the back and was always trying to pull off a few driving runs down the right flank.
CB: Ruben Dias – 6/10
Dias had a tough game on his debut but didn’t commit too many mistakes inside his half. However, he will be disappointed for not securing the shutout.
CB: Aymeric Laporte – 6.5/10
The Man City defender passed the ball well out from the back and did enough to neutralise the threat of Patrick Bamford during the 90 minutes.
LB: Benjamin Mendy – 3/10
The French full-back looked nervy when in possession of the ball and committed a couple of schoolboy errors at the back which went unpunished. He was a liability on the field and was rightfully replaced in the second half.
CM: Phil Foden – 6/10
The English youngster made some good runs in behind the Leeds defence but lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
CM: Rodri – 6.5/10
He provided some decent protection in defence when his teammates were getting stretched during the Leeds’ counter-attacks. However, he struggled to find a telling ball in the opposition half.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 7/10
The Belgian midfielder was desperately unlucky not to score with his excellent freekick in the first half. He was a constant threat and created plenty of inviting goal-scoring opportunities in the attacking third.
LW: Raheem Sterling – 7/10
The English speedster gave his team the lead with a tidy finish in the 17th minute. However, he was responsible for squandering quite a few decent chances in front of the Leeds goal.
ST: Riyad Mahrez – 5/10
The Algerian playmaker tried to make things happen but never looked like he had a goal in him today.
RW: Ferran Torres – 6.5/10
Torres began the contest brightly and has got an assist to show for his efforts. However, he ran out of the gas and got subbed in the second half.
Substitutes:
RW: Bernardo Silva – 6/10
The Portuguese wide player tried to make things happen after coming off the bench but never looked like scoring himself.
CM: Fernandinho – 6/10
The veteran player added some energy to Man City’s midfield.
CB: Nathan Ake – 6/10
He sorted things out defensively and kept the opposition attackers at bay during his time on the field.
