A stoppage-time winner from Phil Foden helped Manchester City to a 3–2 victory over Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
It was the English playmaker who kick-started the action at the Etihad by scoring inside the first minute, and City looked poised to cruise amid an abject Leeds showing in the first half. Joško Gvardiol doubled the hosts’ lead midway through the opening period, but the Croatian was then among the Sky Blue culprits who let the visitors back into the game.
The arrival of Dominic Calvert-Lewin at half-time completely shook the once comfortable hosts, with the Leeds centre forward scoring, then winning the penalty from which Daniel Farke’s side equalised.
This was a classic “game of two halves” case, but Foden’s second of the game meant the hosts escaped with an unconvincing but much-needed three points.
Man City Player Ratings vs. Leeds (4-1-4-1)
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma—7.2: Will be kicking himself over the penalty sequence, but at least his initial save boosted the gameweek tallies of FPL managers.
RB: Matheus Nunes—6.5: After teeing up the opening goal, Nunes was responsible for getting Leeds back into the contest.
CB: Rúben Dias—6.4: After a quiet first half, Dias failed to settle a City defence that looked lost against a more direct Leeds attack.
CB: Joško Gvardol—7.5: Poked home to double City‘s lead in the opening period, but then gave away the penalty from which Leeds equalised.
LB: Nico O’Reilly—8.0: Spent much of the game in the final third, even during Leeds’ improved spell at the start of the second half. After disrupting Lucas Perri’s punch, which led to City’s second goal, he should’ve scored himself just before half-time.
DM: Nico González—7.5: Leeds bypassed City’s holding midfielder amid their resurgence, having failed to connect past Nico in the opening period.
RW: Bernardo Silva—6.8: Combined with Nunes to create the opener, and retained possession well amid a controlled opening 45 minutes. Lost his way after the restart.
CM: Tijjani Reijnders—7.9: The Dutchman’s indifference continued on Saturday. Produced some lovely feints to bypass pressure and move forward, but was unable to make a telling contribution.
CM: Phil Foden—8.9: A procession was expected when he finished expertly inside 60 seconds. Foden wasn’t given much space to operate by a narrow Leeds block, but he constantly probed, and it was a moment of magic late that won it for the hosts.
LW: Jérémy Doku—7.2: Didn’t have much joy when he drifted infield from the left flank, but Jayden Bogle also performed superbly one-on-one when the pair squared off on the touchline.
ST: Erling Haaland—6.7: A bystander for much of the game, much to the frustration of anyone who thought he was worthy of triple-captaining.
Subs not used: James Trafford (GK), Nathan Aké, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis.
Leeds (4-3-3)
Starting XI: Lucas Perri; Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk, James Justin; Ethan Ampadu, Ao Tanaka, Ilia Gruev; Daniel James, Lukas Nmecha, Wilfried Gnonto.
Subs used: Jaka Bijol, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Noah Okafor, Brenden Aaronson.
Player of the Match: Phil Foden
Man City 3–2 Leeds—How It Unfolded at the Etihad
After admitting to a team selection error in the week, Pep Guardiola retained just two players in his starting XI from the 2–0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen as City went out in the hope of avoiding a third-straight defeat in all competitions.
Initially, it looked like there was little chance of an out-of-sorts Leeds inflicting a stunning setback among the title hopefuls at the Etihad, with the visitors falling a goal behind inside 60 seconds.
Leeds’ changed left-hand side failed woefully in their attempt to deny a relatively simple give-and-go between Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva, which ended in the former crossing into the box for Foden to score. City’s No. 47 kissed a first-time effort on the underside of the bar to help the hosts into the lead.
Foden’s 63rd Premier League goal means he’s now struck more in the competition than David Beckham.
The fastest goal of the season so far courtesy of Phil Foden ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/Wo3355CZtZ
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 29, 2025
While Leeds mustered a decent response in the immediate aftermath through their speedy wingers, who got in behind once or twice, the game quickly drifted into a familiar pattern. A City side that’s leant more on the counter-attack this season reverted to asserting all-out control against Farke’s tame visitors, who made close to no effort to win the ball back of the Sky Blues after their initial wave of pressure was bypassed.
City passed and passed, generally avoiding a congested centre via switches of play. Eventually, they scored a second from a scrappy set-piece, with Gvardiol netting his first goal of the season, and Leeds ought to have been four or five behind by half-time. The hosts’ pressure was unrelenting towards the end of the opening period, with Perri saving well from a fierce Nico González effort.
Farke’s initial plan—whatever that may have been—was shelved at the interval in favour of a more direct approach, with Calvert-Lewin entering the fray and Leeds switching to a back three.
The shift immediately paid dividends, although Leeds had Nunes to thank for getting them back into the contest. The City full back’s pass infield was cut off, setting up the chance, and after Calvert-Lewin’s pirouette didn’t quite come off, Nunes’s unwillingness to clear allowed the subsititute to pounce and halve the deficit.
That altered the dynamic for a while, with Leeds emboldened and City suddenly unsure. Guardiola’s men dealt with the long ball like they’d never encountered the concept before, and a Perri lump upfield led to Leeds earning a penalty thanks to a clumsy Gvardiol challenge on game-changer Calvert-Lewin.
Lukas Nmecha’s spot-kick was saved by the imposing Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the Italian was powerless to deny the taker from scoring the rebound. 2–2, from nowhere!
There was, of course, a City response, although a winning goal would’ve felt harsh on Leeds based on the second half. There was an absence of clear-cut openings, so Foden took it upon himself to get Guardiola’s men over the line. He chopped on to his preferred left and fired an effort beyond Perri from just inside the area in stoppage time.
And that proved to be the match-winning moment for a relived Cityzens.
Man City vs. Leeds Half-Time Stats
Man City vs. Leeds Full Time Stats
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man City Player Ratings vs. Leeds: Cityzens Saved From Historic Collapse.
