Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce has taken hope from Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Manchester City after seeing the Blues 'running down the clock' in the final minutes.
City eventually came away with a vital three points at the Etihad, with Ilkay Gundogan netting both goals to send his side four points clear at the top of the Premier League. They should have been out of reach by half-time, with Erling Haaland uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal.
The Norwegian looked set to finally have his moment when Pascal Struijk brought Phil Foden down in the box, but instead gave the ball to Gundogan whose penalty hit the post. Rodrigo pulled one back for the visitors within a minute, leading to a finish that was a little nervy for the home crowd.
RATINGS: Gundogan good but Haaland poor in Leeds win
Pep Guardiola's side dominated possession in the final minutes and killed the game off, helped by a period in which Haaland and Foden were keeping the ball in the corner. And Allardyce has taken hope from seeing his side force the league leaders into such tactics.
"It is a difficult challenge but one we have jumped at - me, Karl [Robinson] and Robbie [Keane]," the Whites boss told Match of the Day. "We have to try to get to the position where we can try and win a football match. We take some hope out of today on the second-half performance. Not the first, but the second.
"We now need to build on that and try to get a result. I was slightly fearful, but we sorted it out for the second half and told them they were playing with too much fear. They needed to get on the front foot and try to challenge them. Apart from a silly penalty... and a great save by Joel [Robles] that gave us a chance to go up the other end and score. When you see Man City running down the clock for four minutes at the end, you know you have given yourself a chance. We did right until the end, but it didn't quite happen.
"Without a huge amount of knowledge, barring that from the staff that was already here, we knew we would have to make five subs today. It was disappointing that one of our subs [Pascal Struijk] gave the penalty away.
"The rest came on and kept us going. We were putting fresh legs on and adding energy which helped us create a good goal. Karl was saying, when we were making the last two, there was still 15 minutes to go. But I told him we'd take the risk. It was worth it. We came close, but not close enough."
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