CITY RATED
EDERSON
No fault for the goals and he may as well have sat in the stand until the final five minutes.
JOAO CANCELO
Switched off for the opening goal. Offering little going forward, his performance bodes well for Kyle Walker.
JOHN STONES
Not great for the goals but otherwise terrific, storming forward into midfield. City’s best player.
NATHAN AKE
Decent positioning but clear signs of rustiness. Booked in the first half for a mistimed swing that caught Bamford.
BENJAMIN MENDY
Found it difficult in the first half as Leeds stayed tight to him. More joy in the second half but nothing bore fruit.
ALEKS ZINCHENKO
Promising further forward including some excellent deliveries from dead balls. Showed a lack of pace.
FERNANDINHO
Has enjoyed getting forward more regularly this season and showed guile. Still very useful at this level.
BERNARDO SILVA
Wasn’t helped by the vacuum of action in the middle of the pitch but made too many wrong decisions.
FERRAN TORRES
A very encouraging start to his City career has fizzled out following his battle with Covid. Took his goal well though.
RAHEEM STERLING
Looked bright enough but long-distance strikes weren’t close and rushed a clear chance set up by Fernandinho.
GABRIEL JESUS
The threat was lacking, and other qualities weren’t good enough. No complaints with a spot on the bench in Germany.
GUNDOGAN (FOR AKE, 58): Gave more structure to the midfield. 7
FODEN (FOR MENDY, 73): An uneventful cameo 6 NOT USED: Steffen, Walker, Dias, Garcia, Rodri, De Bruyne, Mahrez
draw. And they couldn’t even manage that when Dallas raced through and held off Stones to score a winner and inflict just a fourth defeat of the season in the league.
Ultimately, mistakes cost the Blues despite a disjointed performance.
Where City were overrun at Elland Road earlier in the season, they controlled most of this game and restricted Bielsa’s side to just two shots - even if they did both produce goals.
If the Leeds goal and result showed that City are mortal, it should probably be swallowed without touching the sides.
The result - meaning that their lead at the top of the table could be cut to 12 points if United beat Tottenham on Sunday - does nothing to significantly knock the standing of Guardiola’s squad in the Premier League or the confidence and belief in the group.
Dortmund will know not only that they cannot rely on the Blues being (again) as wasteful in attack as they are generous in defence but that it will be a completely different team that kicks off at Signal Iduna Park, full of rested in-form players.
Guardiola would rather not delay their Premier League coronation, but he won’t mind it one bit if - as planned - it results in more trophies for the cabinet come the end of the season.
■ RAZ AND FALL PEP Guardiola made it plain that his decision to only start England star Raheem Sterling in one of the previous six City games was down entirely to the excellent form of Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez.
No doubt that is true, but the fact that Sterling was ousted in the first place was down to a drop in the impressive standards he has set in the last four years. Now he looks like a player trying too hard, and playing to get his place back rather than to contribute to the team.
A sharp performance here would have tempted Guardiola to stick him back in the team in Dortmund, but the manager will have seen nothing to suggest Foden and Mahrez should be disturbed.
Sterling’s snatched slice after Fernandinho’s superb run and pass was more like the 2015 Sterling than the man who piled up 31 goals last season.
GEM STONES
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LEEDS’ ploy of sitting men on attacking midfielders Aleks Zinchenko and Bernardo Silva in the first half gave Fernandinho and John Stones leeway to stride forward.
In the second half, protecting their lead, the Yorkshire outfit also tightened up on the Brazil holding midfielder, who had been the main source of threat for the Blues.
Stones stepped up to the challenge, making himself the fulcrum of City’s best attacks, repeatedly driving at the heart of the opposition defence, only to be found wanting defensively for Stuart Dallas’ winning goal.
LAPORTE POSER
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THE stacking of the subs bench with quality gave an indication of how City will line up in Germany on Wednesday - Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden are tied-on starters in that second leg. The mystery surrounds Aymeric Laporte, who Guardiola said had a problem with his hips and had been ruled out on medical advice. But that came after the lack of a left-footed centre back had restricted City tactically in midweek could he be a ‘surprise’ call-up for the Champions League crunch?
AG-ONY
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THE legendary striker was not in the matchday squad after missing “three or four days” of training, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
No-one associated with the Blues wants to see Kun’s glorious career at the club fizzle out, but with every week that goes by, it looks more and more like the correct decision, from the point of view of both the player and club.
Guardiola’s prediction that Aguero would play a significant part in the remainder of the season is now looking like an ardent wish rather than a realistic assessment.
The best fans can hope for right now is that he gets fit, and plays and scores in the game that clinches the league title now THAT would be a fitting end for him.