PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW
MARCELO Bielsa felt his 10-man Leeds side deserved their victory over Manchester City - but would not have complained had they lost.
Stuart Dallas struck twice, including an injury-time winner, as Leeds overcame the first-half sending-off of captain Liam Cooper to win 2-1 against the Premier League leaders at the Etihad Stadium.
City racked up 29 shots in a dominant display but, after equalising through Ferran Torres on 76 minutes, could not make their superiority count and were punished by Dallas late on.
Leeds manager Bielsa said: “They dominated the game, the majority of the chances at goal were in their favour.
“But the result was deserved because of the character, personality, effort and fortitude from a mental and physical point of view.
“It is a little bit strange to say it - as it would have been fair for City to win - but we deserved to win.”
It was Leeds’ first victory over one of the established ‘big six’ clubs since their promotion back to the top flight.
It was also a notable first win for veteran Bielsa over City boss Pep Guardiola, but the 65-year-old Argentinian refused to take any of the credit.
He said: “That Leeds beat Man City doesn’t mean I imposed myself over their manager.
“Guardiola is the manager of the team Leeds beat but I don’t consider anything on my part. I do think value belongs to the players for winning a difficult game.”
DEFENDER Trent AlexanderArnold found himself in the spotlight for the third time in a week as his added-time winner against Aston Villa kept Liverpool’s Champions League qualification hopes alive.
The England defender, watched by national team boss Gareth Southgate who left him out of his squad for the recent World Cup qualifiers, rifled home a shot to snatch a 2-1 Premier League victory and end the Reds’ worst home league run in their history.
After six-successive defeats, Jurgen Klopp’s side registered their first home league win in four months as they recovered from going behind to Ollie Watkins’ opener with Mohamed Salah scoring his 19th league goal of the season - the first from open play at Anfield in 2021 after a drought of almost 13 hours.
But it was Alexander-Arnold - who had starred in the win against Arsenal last weekend but erred in the midweek 3-1 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid - who stole the headlines with a fearsome strike for only his second of the season.