It might take him a while but Pep Guardiola will eventually forgive Ilkay Gundogan.
Not for missing the penalty that could have made this victory completely stress-free - Guardiola will happily accept that can happen to anyone - but for taking it in the first place.
Two up and with six minutes of regulation time remaining, Pascal Struijk’s offence against Phil Foden gave Manchester City the chance to coast to the finishing line.
But Erling Haaland did what he thought was the generous, lovely thing to do and handed the ball to Gundogan so that his captain could complete his hat-trick. The shot hit the post and, in the technical area, something similar hit the fan.
But after Rodrigo’s goal a couple of minutes later proved to be only a consolation for Sam Allardyce’s side, the job was done for City. And the irony is that the man largely responsible for doing that job was a certain Ilkay Gundogan.
Against an Allardyce side, Guardiola knew he needed a lock-picker, a player who can see round corners, a footballer who passes with surgical precision. And in the quiet genius that is Gundogan, Pep had just the man.
“A footballer defined perfectly,” Guardiola said of Gundogan recently. And that is Gundogan summed up perfectly.
The first official signing of Guardiola’s City era, there is probably no-one who has contributed so much to the club’s success in return for so relatively little acclaim.
Remember, it was Gundogan’s introduction three-quarters into the closing game of last season against Aston Villa that, essentially, won the title for City.
Normally, Guardiola would not turn a hair at the prospect of a player walking away from his project and City will cope and continue to prosper if 32-year-old Gundogan decides his career needs a final challenge.
His contract expires soon, he has been strongly linked with a move to Barcelona and no City follower or team-mate would begrudge him a lucrative switch to a beautiful city.
But they would miss him.
Confronted by Big Sam’s massed defensive ranks, Gundogan produced a first half masterclass that was not just about his two exquisite strikes. In those opening 45 minutes, Gundogan completed 92 passes, which was almost double the amount completed by the entire Leeds side.
Kevin De Bruyne is not a fan of the completed passes category but most of these Gundogan passes meant something. But it was those two exquisite strikes that symbolised everything that is classy about Gundogan.
After smuggling himself into the limited space between the lines of the Leeds rearguard, he PASSED both Riyad Mahrez assists beyond Joel Robles - one without a first touch, one with.
Surprisingly, he converted his chances with the sort of composure that was missing from Haaland’s game, the Norwegian missing what were, by his exalted standards, a series of sitters.
But apart from failing to bolster his extraordinary numbers, Haaland’s off-colour finishing looked like it really wouldn’t matter because, before Rodrigo capitalised on a Manuel Akanji mistake, Leeds offered precious little attacking threat.
That they avoided a good hiding was not only down to Haaland’s wastefulness but also to the limited exertions of a side with their eyes of a more testing engagement in the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
For the Real Madrid test, there might well be half a dozen changes to the line-up that started this match but Guardiola would have wanted everyone to stay as fresh as possible for the Champions League semi-final.
And if it had not been for the penalty fiasco and the Akanjki error, they would have won this in a canter, just as there is a chance they might now win the Premier League in a canter.
If Arsenal are beaten at St James’ Park on Sunday, City could clinch the title with two matches to spare.
But if they ever need a penalty to win it, you know who will and who will not be taking it.
