Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to just two points, after Saturday’s 1–0 win over Leeds United at Elland Road.
Both teams have played the same number of games (28), although the Gunners are in action as soon as Sunday when they host Chelsea in a London derby.
Pep Guardiola’s team had to weather an early storm from a Leeds side playing with intensity and intent on pressing high up the pitch. It meant all the early chances went to the home side, including a couple of opportunities for Dominic Calvert-Lewin that flew just wide.
City gained more of a foothold from around the half-hour mark, before Antoine Semenyo put them ahead on the stroke of halftime. Leeds were never realistically going to be able to keep up the same tempo for an extended period, so after the goal it never seemed there would be any other outcome.
City largely took the sting out the contest in the second half and a spell of late Leeds pressure was more hypothetical than genuinely threatening.
One Thing We Can’t Ignore
Erling who?
Antoine Semenyo is proving exactly the midseason signing Manchester City needed and wanted. There was a clear overreliance on Haaland—who was admittedly in blistering form—in the early stages of the season, but Semenyo is already managing to balance the goal burden a little more.
For the Ghana international, it’s four Premier League goals since he arrived in January—and six across all competitions in a City shirt.
The poacher’s finish shortly before the break, after City had been second best for large parts of the first half, was Haaland-esque. Perhaps more to the point, it came in a game from which the Norwegian was absent, thought to be a decision to help him manage a knee issue.
Man City Player Ratings vs. Leeds (4-1-3-2)
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma—8.0: Leeds didn’t really test him during their first-half dominance, with the Italian eventually becoming largely a spectator.
RB: Matheus Nunes—8.2: Enjoyed a strong game and was one of City’s better attacking outlets.
CB: Rúben Dias—8.4: A dominant defensive force, leading the match in clearances.
CB: Marc Guéhi—7.6: Gleefully congratulated his teammates 20 minutes in for a goal-saving challenge in the six-yard box. Could have been a turning point in the game.
LB: Rayan Aït-Nouri—8.6: Made the breakthrough goal possible with a surging run forward and intelligent low cross into the danger area.
DM: Rodri—7.8: Controlled a lot of the tempo once the Leeds intensity slowed.
RM: Rayan Cherki—7.1: His pass cut Leeds open to create the opening that led to Semenyo’s goal. But otherwise did relatively little compared to how much of the ball he had.
AM: Bernardo Silva (c)—7.1: Similar to Cherki. Frustrating that he didn’t do more.
LM: Nico O’Reilly—7.0: A promising performance that ended prematurely when he limped off.
ST: Antoine Semenyo—7.8: Hadn’t seen a lot of the ball until the chance to City ahead came, which he took with a clinical finish.
ST: Omar Marmoush—6.3: Didn’t have an easy game, although his impact increased a little from around the 40-minute mark.
SUB: Savinho (68’ for Marmoush)—6.1: First appearance since New Year’s Day after injury.
SUB: Tijjani Reijnders (70’ for O’Reilly)—6.7: Minimal influence.
SUB: Nathan Aké (88’ for Cherki)—N/A: Late switch to add defensive protection.
Subs not used: James Trafford (GK), Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, Nico González, Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku.
What the Ratings Tell Us
- Manchester City’s fullbacks are some of their best players right now. Matheus Nunes and Rayan Aït-Nouri both impressed here and were two of City’s three top-rated players.
- A year into his City career, Omar Marmoush is struggling to make the desired impact, certainly compared to what Semenyo is doing now. The Egyptian has recently been linked with a summer switch to Barcelona, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for him.
- Fans will need to wait to learn the extent of the injury that ended Nico O’Reilly’s game after 70 minutes. The homegrown youngster has been in fine form since returning to his more natural midfield role.
The Numbers That Explain
- This match was good enough to feature more goals. Both teams underachieved their xG, creating six chances between them and largely not taking them.
- Being clinical in front of goal matters so much. Semenyo took his chance and it proved absolutely vital in deciding the result.
- Leeds have the ball away too easily to be effective, with City keeping control of their possession much more carefully.
| Statistic | Leeds | Man City |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 33% | 67% |
| Expected Goals (xG) | 1.47 | 1.77 |
| Total Shots | 14 | 14 |
| Shots on Target | 2 | 5 |
| Big Chances | 2 | 4 |
| Passing Accuracy | 74% | 90% |
| Fouls Committed | 10 | 8 |
| Corners | 5 | 3 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man City Player Ratings vs. Leeds: Semenyo Piles Title Race Pressure on Arsenal.
