07 May 2023 , 11:14
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Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan netted a brace as Pep Guardiola's side extended their lead in the Premier League title race to four points with a 2-1 win over Leeds on Saturday.
While there was some controversy after Gundogan missed an 84th-minute penalty having been offered the opportunity to score his first City hat-trick by regular taker Erling Haaland, an 85th minute consolation strike from Rodrigo was not enough to trouble the league leaders as they held on for all three points.
City are well-placed to win their third consecutive Premier League title this season, having now won their last ten league games in a row to capitalise on Arsenal's loss of form. City have done this before, having twice beaten Liverpool to the title by a solitary point in recent years.
With just four games to go, City do not look like slipping up and Gundogan delivered a pointed final pre-match message in a team huddle ahead of their win over Leeds. He demanded: "We need today intensity and high pressing. They're going to be nervous. We need to do everything to win this game, ok? Don't allow any mistakes, ok? From the start."
Speaking after the game, Gundogan emphasised City's experience in crunch situations and admitted his penalty miss and the late Leeds goal would serve as a "warning". "Leeds made it difficult for us, defended really well," he said.
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"But the way we approached the game from the start was really good. We created a lot of chances and the only negative was that we were not able to score a third.
Ilkay Gundogan delivered a message to his team-mates (Twitter/@footballdaily)"Probably, the best warning is today. But we have an experienced team and have had these kinds of run-ins in recent years. We know what to do to keep the momentum going and winning games. Nothing more but also nothing less.”
Guardiola, meanwhile, said: "The performance was excellent. We played really good; we were not clinical enough but it's football.
"I'm not going to explain my feelings about the game for the last five or six minutes. But in general it was really good - the first half was better than the second. But the second half was also under control."