Grealish grit just what City require
AS Jack Grealish prepared to take a corner early in the second half, the Leeds fans pelted him with balls of rolled-up paper.
Grealish grinned. Considering he had been kicked from pillar to post in the first half, a few makeshift, lightweight missiles were never going to bother him.
In front of Gareth Southgate, this was not one of Grealish’s more accomplished, flamboyant performances.
There were no goals, no assists and Grealish looks as though he is still coming to terms with what Pep Guardiola wants out of him.
But he never hid, kept trying to play, diligently carried out his defensive duties and contributed significantly to a City victory that was far more hard-earned than the scoreline suggests.
His display, not eye-catching but effective, was City’s performance.
And make no mistake, this was a reasonably tough challenge for City to cross off their list.
After Naby Keita made sure a tricky-looking task at St James’ Park was safely undertaken by Liverpool, this challenge at Elland Road looked a lot tougher for City, particularly as Guardiola wanted to get rest into some legs and particularly as he was short of a couple of defensive bodies.
When it comes to fit personnel, that is an area in which Jurgen Klopp has an obvious advantage. To arrive at this stage of the season with next to no injury concerns, even though you have been fighting on four fronts, is fairly remarkable.
Not only does Klopp have few concerns on the injury front, his players look as fresh as they did on day one. City, on the other hand, have a couple of absentees – most notably John Stones and Kyle Walker – and there are a few for whom the needle is leaning towards the red.
The climax to this season will be a real physical test. On occasions, they are just going to have to try and grind it out. And for
BIG MATCH VERDICT
long periods, this was one of them. Against what you would kindly describe as a robust Leeds team, City occasionally looked below their usual energetic standards.
But when they are not at their most physically vibrant, they are going to have to rely on more prosaic ways of trying to win a football match.
Defend carefully against the counterattack and maybe look for some joy at the odd set piece. That is what they did in a scrappy first half that was littered with infringements, which went punished and unpunished.
Sadly, one of those infringements ended with Stuart Dallas (left) being taken from the field on a stretcher with what appeared to be a very serious injury.
Dallas had been the aggressor in the infringement, yet another foul on Grealish.
Had referee Paul Tierney booked Dallas for one of his previous fouls on Grealish, he might not have lunged in again.
Tierney did at least get one decision right, penalising Dallas for a foul on Raheem Sterling and from the Phil Foden set piece, Rodri cleverly headed in the opener.
It was another set piece that settled Guardiola’s nerves soon after half-time, Nathan Ake – later to go off injured – with a poacher’s finish after Ruben Dias had headed down Foden’s corner.
When Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho put some gloss on the scoreline, it was perhaps a little harsh on the home side but Leeds are going to have to do more than put themselves about if they are to avoid a very nervy finale.