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Guardiola proud of ´incredible´ City: It´s not easy to play against Leeds

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 3 Oct 2020

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Pep Guardiola accepted a 1-1 draw was a fair result for Manchester City after they were pegged back by Leeds United at Elland Road.

Raheem Sterling gave a depleted City side the lead in the 17th minute, with the visitors dominating for the majority of the opening half of Saturday’s Premier League fixture.

However, Leeds weathered the storm amid heavy rainfall and, after the break, caused their opponents problems. Eventually, Rodrigo equalised, the Spaniard capitalising on an error by visiting goalkeeper Ederson.

The two teams then went toe-to-toe in pursuit of a winner and while City were unable to score again, Guardiola was pleased with the performance, considering some of the key players missing.

“It was a good game, a fair result,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “We made an incredible 30 minutes when we could have scored more goals, but we could not.  

“We knew this was a team that, until the final whistle, they will be there. But my team, with the situation that we have, without pre-season and a lot of players out, they showed an incredible behaviour. 

“Unfortunately, we could not win, but we move on from here.”

City were without forward duo Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, as well as midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, though new signing Ruben Dias featured from the start following his arrival from Benfica.

On the performance of the team, Guardiola added: “We played a good game, a different game to ones we’re used to – more up and down, more transitions.  

“In the first half, before they had the chances at the end, we had chances to kill the game.  

“In the second half it was a little more equal – there was a part when they were better, then in the last 10 or 15 minutes we were better as we tried to win the game.”

Guardiola admitted it is “not easy” to play against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, who have impressed in the early stages of the 2020-21 season following their return to the top flight.

“They put a lot of players behind our midfield line, they attack incredibly quick with the quality of players they have, fast players outside,” the City boss said. 

“It’s not easy to play against them. I think all the teams they played this season so far, and last season in the Championship, they’ve shown how good they are.”

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