Leeds United were beaten narrowly by title-chasing Manchester City on Saturday night, but the main in-game talking points were how poorly the match was officiated.
United looked to see out a testing February with another positive result against one of the best in the division. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City headed to Elland Road chasing a fifth win in six.
Ultimately, they edged out a tense match where Leeds had chances to take the lead, but were dealt a sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time.
Peter Bankes is Elland Road’s public enemy after Leeds United, Manchester City shocker
The one bit of Guardiola quality proved the difference as Rayan Ait-Nouri whipped the ball on a plate to Antoine Semenyo just before half-time.
However, Leeds had three breakaway opportunities at 0-0 with Brenden Aaronson hitting a 1v1 straight at Gigi Donnarumma. That chance came between two Dominic Calvert-Lewin opportunities. The first missed chance perhaps would’ve been chalked off as Calvert-Lewin decked Marc Guehi in the buildup. His second was defended well by the City centre-back.
In the second half, though, refereeing controversy was the main theme. Star man Rayan Cherki was incredibly fortunate to remain on the pitch. He was seen stamping down on Ilia Gruev’s shin during a stoppage in play. Peter Bankes clearly didn’t see it, and VAR Paul Howard didn’t deem violent conduct.
Matheus Nunes was also perhaps lucky that his flailing arm striking the ball away from Calvert-Lewin wasn’t deemed worthy of a handball and Leeds penalty. The terms “accidental” and “natural position” were likely to have been the justification. That said, a stray elbow cleared the ball away from danger for City.
It leaves you wondering what the handball rule actually is anymore.
Daniel Farke sent off for arguing with Peter Bankes after Leeds United defeat to Manchester City
Then, Daniel Farke was dismissed after the full-time whistle for trying to aggressively make his point to Bankes in the centre circle. The Leeds boss was handed a red before he’d even got close to the man in the middle.
Farke’s final frustration was Bankes allowing Leeds to take a throw-in mere seconds after the six allotted minutes, then blowing his whistle as Leeds’ long ball was airborne.
It’s worth noting that Ait-Nouri was booked in added time for time-wasting, while Savinho was also cautioned for a professional foul.
However, Bankes somehow deemed the six minutes to be Leeds’ absolute limit of time to find an equaliser. Therefore, he rewarded Man City’s grim antics in the process.
Match of the Day completely ignore Leeds United injustice – Shameful trend continues in Whites’ 2026 coverage
If you only had chance to watch Match of the Day’s highlights and analysis of the game, you’d have little to go off in terms of Leeds’ frustrations.
Three minutes and 10 seconds of studio analysis was portioned for Leeds’ defeat to the Citizens. Of that, 25 seconds were about Leeds, as Ashley Williams discussed our general footing in the survival battle.
“They’ve been impressive, even today was really good against Manchester City,” Williams said. “They didn’t sit back, I think Daniel Farke’s got them playing some good football.
“They know each others’ roles and as you say, if they can go and get that win [vs Sunderland], I think they’ll be alright.”
It’s nice to see Leeds’ valiant performance being credited, even if it was a brief comment. However, there was no mention of our genuine grievances with the officiating that could have altered the match completely.
We didn’t see any explanation for why Farke stormed onto the pitch at full-time. It was justified, even if he lost his temper. We didn’t see the handball non-decision explained, nor why Cherki was still on the pitch after his stamp.
It’s the third time in 2026 I’ve been really disappointed by the lack of focus on Leeds in this programme. Our very good performance and draw against Man United got 20 seconds of attention out of nearly five minutes. And, Anton Stach’s screamer last week was ignored at Aston Villa.
I’m happy for Leeds to stay under the radar. But, some even analysis after a very good performance would be welcome.
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