SMOKING GUN
Pep is left fuming after Ilkay’s spot miss for hat-trick almost costs City dearly
Manchester City .............2 Leeds United....................1
Two- goal City hero Ilkay Gundogan walked into a blast from furious Pep Guardiola after missing a late penalty that almost opened the door for a Leeds comeback.
The German put City in control with two identical first-half goals but when Phil Foden was fouled by Pascal Struijk late on, usual penalty taker Erling Haaland handed Gundogan the ball to clinch his hat-trick.
Leeds keeper Joel Robles finger-tipped the ball onto the post, leaving Guardiola to tell Haaland: “You’ve got to take it.”
Seconds later Leeds broke away to score through substitute Rodrigo to spark a dramatic finale.
City held on to leapfrog Arsenal at the top but Gundogan admitted his gaffer was far from happy.
He said: “First he (Guardiola) showed to Erling that he was quite mad about that and then he had a go at me.
“It is what it is at the end. The moment Erling grabbed the ball, I was sure he was going to take it but he looked out for me.
“I checked with him a few times to make sure. He was certain to hand the ball to me and I was confident to score.
“We should have scored a third. This is sometimes how it is that they go on the counter and score.”
With City hunting down another title Guardiola insists there’s no room for any sentiment on the pitch.
He said: “The game was not over. It shows how nice and generous Erling is. If it is 4- 0 with 10 minutes left, OK.
“But at 2- 0? Erling is the best penalty taker right now so he has to take it. If Gundo scores, everyone is, ‘OK, hat-trick, well done.’
“But a taker is a taker. Erling is the specialist. At 2- 0, this is a business, not a situation where we cannot forget it.
“Before the last minutes we played an exceptional game but maybe we were not as clinical as we should be.”
The champions were certainly clinical early on, with Gundogan twice sweeping home from Riyad Mahrez cut-backs.
The first beat Robles to his left then the midfielder left the keeper flat-footed by reversing the ball to the opposite corner for his second. City wasted numerous chances before the late drama, with Haaland unusually profligate.
It almost came back to haunt them after an error from Manuel Akanji gifted Rodrigo his goal but there was to be no fairytale ending for Sam Allardyce in his first game at the Leeds helm.
They remain mired in the relegation dogfight but Big Sam still believes.
Allardyce said: “When we stopped giving the ball to City we grew in confidence. We gave a stupid penalty away but Joel made a wonderful save.
“We scored and then the game was on and they were showing a bit of nerves. When you get City playing by the corner flag in the last five minutes you know you must still be in with a chance.”