Leeds United were cruelly denied what would have been a huge point on the road at Manchester City as a fine Phil Foden winner settled a chaotic game.
Not many gave Leeds a prayer going into our trip to Manchester City. The talk of an Erling Haaland ‘triple captaincy’ on FPL seemed incredibly popular.
So, when Phil Foden opened the scoring inside a minute, fears were realised that it could be a long day.
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Leeds United struggle in woeful first-half performance at Manchester City
After Foden’s early opener, Josko Gvardiol scrambled in from a set piece midway through the half. At that point, it looked an impossible task for United to get anything out of the game, penned in for the first 45 minutes and playing their way into trouble.
Daniel Farke would have been in line for more criticism with how we played in that first half. Leeds refused to go direct despite the nine fouls won, playing short and essentially falling into every City trap.
Adopting the typical 4-3-3 setup in that first half, Leeds routinely turned over possession and did not even test Gigi Donnarumma’s goal, despite five changes that included Dan James and Willy Gnonto finally starting.
Leeds United spark stunning fightback only to lose late to Manchester City
Then, it all changed in the second half. Leeds fans have been crying out for proactive and pragmatic changes from Farke, and that happened at half-time.
James and Gnonto were hooked for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jaka Bijol. Leeds went to a 5-3-2 and instantly got back in the game through more aggressive means. Ilia Gruev won the ball high, and Calvert-Lewin stabbed home a goal to half the deficit, lifting spirits.
Leeds United’s Lukas Nmecha celebrates scoring their second goal (Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)
Then, in spite of Donnarumma seemingly feigning injury to allow time for Pep Guardiola to tweak his system, Leeds got their equaliser when Gvardiol scythed Calvert-Lewin to the ground for a penalty. Lukas Nmecha stepped up and scored on the rebound as his initial effort was saved.
However, as Leeds hoped to run the clock down, they were dealt a sickener in the first of 10 additional minutes as Foden finally worked an angle to fire an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner for the winner.
Pep Guardiola expects Premier League fine if Manchester City repeat Gigi Donnarumma injury ploy
It’s not often you see one of the best teams in the world require such underhanded methods to gain the upper hand against a newly promoted side at home.
Ruben Dias has just spent 10-15 seconds screaming/signalling for Donnarumma to go down. Donnarumma goes down. City go over to Guardiola for a tactical timeout.
Donnarumma is fine.
Everyone does it but do not like that.
— Jack Gaughan (@Jack_Gaughan) November 29, 2025
However, Guardiola’s comments post-match more or less confirm the thinking behind Donnarumma temporarily being too stricken to continue.
“I’m pretty sure if we do it again [have a team-talk when a player is injured], the Premier League will fine us again. So it’s better that we don’t do it,” Guardiola said, via CityXtra.
Daniel Farke was incensed at City’s decision to utilise this period to change tactics mid-game.
“Everyone knows why he went down. It’s the elephant in the room. It was obvious. You can speak about it, Farke said, per Beren Cross.
“Within rules. Asked fourth official, ‘Do you want to do something?’ ‘Our hands are tied, can’t do anything’. If we don’t educate players in football, what to do in fair play, bend rules to your advantage, fake injury for team talk, it’s nothing I like.”