As title messages go, this was pretty ominous and formidable.
Manchester City made it very clear they are not going to surrender their Premier League crown without one hell of a fight.
And in Erling Haaland, they have a goal machine who seems ready to hunt down leaders Arsenal all by himself.
Incredibly, Haaland took his Premier League tally to the 20 mark in just 14 games while the City striker has got 25 goals already in all competitions. He is the fastest player to score 20 goals in Premier League history.
Haaland’s double was enough to haul City back into second place as they leapfrogged Newcastle but also moved to within five points of Arsenal.
City boss Pep Guardiola has already warned they cannot afford any slip-ups but they also provided some festive entertainment as Jack Grealish played the role of pantomime villain at Elland Road.
Grealish missed a hat trick of chances, he is the player all opposing fans love to hate but still ended up having the last laugh because he provided the assists for both Haaland’s goals. He milked the jeers when he was subbed late on before getting a big hug from Guardiola.
It was not exactly a faultless City display in their first Premier League game since the World Cup but they are the team that everybody still fears in this title race.
Not even a red-hot, raucous atmosphere at Elland Road coupled with Leeds’ high energy and desire could not knock them off course.
City dominated the first half but just could not find the net as Grealish missed a hat trick of chances, spooning three gilt-edged openings over the bar much to the delight of the home crowd.
The best opening was in the 45th minute when City’s impressive teenage full back Rico Lewis pulled the ball back for Grealish who fired over with the goal at his mercy.
It looked like Leeds had weathered the storm until half time. How wrong they were. Leeds went storming forward, Jesse Marsch could see the danger and frantically waved his players back but it was too late.
City launched a counter attack as Gundogan brought the ball out, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri combined to set up Riyad Mahrez whose shot was blocked by Leeds keeper Illan Meslier. The ball came back out for Rodri to fire in from the rebound in first half injury time.
Once the deadlock was broken, there was only one outcome. Then Leeds even gave them a helping hand as Liam Cooper’s careless pass let in Grealish who raced into the Leeds box and then unselfishly squared it to Haaland to tap into an empty net.
Haaland grew up as a Leeds fan because his dad Alf Inge played for them. Both father and son - the TV cameras immediately panned to dad sat up in an executive box - did not celebrate out of respect.
But respect only goes so far. It did not stop the same combination teaming up again after 64 minutes to put City further ahead.
They swapped passes as Grealish then pulled it back for Haaland to steer past Meslier who really should have saved the shot but his weak hand did not stop the ball going into the far corner.
Leeds finally got one back after 73 minutes when Sam Greenwood put over a corner, Pascal Struijk’s glancing header at least gave Elland Road something to cheer even if it was too little too late.
