Man City stunned by 2-1 loss to Leeds in Premier League

Manchester City's march to the Premier League title was halted by a 2-1 loss to 10-man Leeds on Saturday, with Stuart Dallas scoring the winner in secondhalf stoppage time for his second goal of the game.

Reduced to 10 men moments before halftime because of Liam Cooper's straight red card, Leeds spent almost the entire second half camped inside its own area repelling wave after wave of attacks by City.

The runaway leaders finally got rewarded for their pressure with an equalizer by Ferran Torres in the 76th minute but Dallas, who had put Leeds in front in the 42nd, burst through a gap in City's defense and slid a finish past goalkeeper Ederson for a stunning winning goal on a breakaway.

City's dominance showed in the stats — Pep Guardiola's team had 29 shots compared to Leeds' two — but that didn't translate into one of the four wins needed to regain the league trophy.

City, which is 14 points clear of second-place Manchester United, still requires a maximum of 11 points.

It was a fourth defeat in the league, three of them coming at home, as Guardiola lost to a team coached by his mentor, Marcelo Bielsa.

Cooper's sending-off turned what had been an end-to-end game into one resembling a training-ground exercise of attack vs. defense.

Referee Andre Marriner initially showed the Scotland international a yellow card for a tackle that saw him get the ball but follow through, with his studs showing, into the leg of Gabriel Jesus.

As a result, City center back John Stones spent most of the second half on the edge of Leeds' penalty area and right back Joao Cancelo as a right winger.

Leeds, one of the Premier League's flair teams, demonstrated unlikely resilience to hold off City until Torres' goal 14 minutes from time, which came from a through ball from Bernardo Silva.

But the visitors had the final say as Dallas ran onto a pass from Ezgjan Alioski, pierced the center of City's defense and beat Ederson.

"Against these teams, you don't get chances so you need to be clinical," Dallas said. "I think I took one touch and closed my eyes."

City ultimately paid the price for its heavy rotation that saw Guardiola make seven changes for a match that came in between the two legs against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarterfinals. Kevin De Bruyne was an unused substitute.

There was a two-minute silence before the game to honor

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Friday at the age of 99. Players wore black armbands and flags at the stadium were lowered to half-staff.

Alexander-Arnold ends Liverpool's long wait for Anfield win

Trent Alexander-Arnold's stoppage-time goal earned Liverpool a 2-1 win over Aston Villa as the soon-to-bedeposed champions ended their six-match losing run at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday.

The right back collected a poorly cleared ball just inside the area and curled a shot into the bottom corner, clinching a victory that moved Liverpool level on points with West Ham — the team which occupied the fourth and final Champions

League qualification spot coming into the weekend.

England manager Gareth Southgate, who dropped Alexander-Arnold from the most recent national-team squad, was at a virtually empty Anfield to see the goal.

Mohamed Salah's 57th-minute equalizer from close range, which canceled out the opening goal from Ollie Watkins, was Liverpool's first goal in open play at Anfield in 2021.

The Reds went 68 home league matches unbeaten before a defeat to Burnley in January precipitated their improbable losing run that later encompassed Brighton, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and Fulham.

There was a two-minute silence before the game to honor Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on

Friday at the age of 99. Players wore black armbands and flags at the stadium were lowered to half-staff.

Liverpool’s solitary triumph in a home fixture since the turn of the year had actually come in Budapest, as they had to play both legs of their last-16 Champions League tie with RB Leipzig overseas.

A 3-0 win at Arsenal after the international break had suggested Klopp’s squad were primed for a strong run-in. However, bad habits resurfaced in a 3-1 defeat to Madrid, leaving them facing a tall order to overturn the deficit in the return fixture and progress in Europe.

The domestic route to the Champions League still remains open, though, as an all-too familiar story of wasteful finishing – Liverpool had 23 attempts in total – against Villa eventually had a happy ending.