Leeds-born Haaland gave a nod to the away support at full time
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
06:00, 30 Nov 2025
Erling Haaland reacts towards the Leeds United fans at full time
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Erling Haaland reacts towards the Leeds United fans at full time(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Leeds United’s fans were, once again, in terrific voice at Manchester City. They went home having seen their team lose but with a lot more things to be positive about.
A change in formation saw Leeds take on one of the best teams in the world on their own patch, not only matching them but sometimes bypassing them. Daniel Farke should be praised for making the half-time change to switch up his formation and personnel.
It very nearly paid off. Comments after full-time cast doubt and ambiguity over whether he will start with that formation against Chelsea - maybe he was trying to throw the Blues off the scent.
But renewed hope has now been injected into Leeds and Farke’s future. Here are a few moments fans may have missed.
Celebrations in the posh seats
Usually those in corporate are reserved in their celebrations, especially if they are of an away persuasion. But for a gaggle of Leeds supporters who had managed to get their hands on these posh tickets, they couldn’t care less.
Shouts of ‘go on’ and ‘get into ‘em’ could be heard and their affinity was soon confirmed when Dominic Calvert-Lewin prodded home. They went ecstatic when Lukas Nmecha put in the rebound from the penslty spot.
A stadium steward gestured for them to calm down. These chaps were not anti-social nor stepped beyond the line. They were just simply unashamed.
One funny moment came when one shouted for Farke to call a team talk when Ethan Ampadu was down receiving treatment, in reference to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s very questionable injury earlier on, which prompted a City touchline teamtalk. Brilliant, and what it’s all about.
Tunnel chat between managers
A photograph seen by Leeds Live showed Farke and Pep Guardiola speaking to one another in the tunnel after full time, in what appears to be a very warm interaction. After full time, Farke called his counterpart “by far the best manager in the world”.
He also revealed last month that Guardiola had called him to get his thoughts on Arsenal after Leeds were thumped 5-0 by them, ahead of Man City’s own fixture against the Gunners. The two clearly share admiration.
In his post-match press conference, Guardiola joked that he hopes the Premier League don’t fine him for being “30 minutes late thanks to Daniel Farke”, with the Leeds boss conducting his duties before him.
Farke had made clear that his grievances with Donnarumma’s gamesmanship was not the intentional fault of Guardiola. “It’s not like he went down,” he said.
Other bits spotted
Leeds-born Erling Haaland was given an earful by Pep Guardiola after full time, having been kept quiet for large parts by Joe Rodon and co. Haaland eventually made his way past the away fans on his lap of applause and gave the visiting support the Leeds salute.
In the first-half, Leeds often sunk into a 4-4-2 or a back five when out of possession. Wilfried Gnonto essentially acted as the second left-back but both he and substitute James Justin were not on the same wavelength at times, including for the first goal.
Just before half time, Nmecha was seen telling the referee ‘that was so soft’ when a free-kick was given not far outside of the Leeds area. Shortly beforehand, Farke had stormed back to his bench with his arms flailing angered at what he had seen.
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It wasn’t clear what caused this but perhaps it contributed towards the half-time changes. Joe Rodon was seen having verbals with Jeremy Doku after shouldering him off the ball, accusing him of going down too easily and ordering him to get back up.
The pair shared a side hug but Rodon made his point. Before kick-off, Man City announced their line up in conjunction with the public announcer by raising flags with the names and number of those starting. You won’t be seeing that at Elland Road any time soon, thankfully.