Man City stormed to a 4-0 win over a tenacious Leeds side at Elland Road to leapfrog Liverpool and reclaim the top spot in the Premier League.
City manager Pep Guardiola praised his hosts’ intensity, saying his team was made to “suffer” after the first hour in which they struggled to match Leeds’ trademark style, but still managed to lead through a pair of set-piece goals, before two more late strikes sealed the victory and returned them to the top of the Premier League.

They capped a frantic start when Rodri was left unmarked to head home Phil Foden’s inviting free-kick, but they only completed three-quarters of their passes in the Leeds half before half-time, their second-lowest figure of the season. Even though clear-cut chances were scarce, the nature of City’s celebrations when Nathan Ake hooked past Illan Meslier from a corner nine minutes into the second period was a sign of their relief at adding a two-goal cushion.

A raucous Elland Road threatened to galvanize the hosts if they could claw their way back into the game, but when they couldn’t, Jesus put the result beyond doubt when he buried Foden’s perfect pass with 12 minutes left, and Fernandinho iced the cake with a long-range potshot that crept past Meslier in added time.

A disappointing afternoon for Jesse Marsch’s side, who remain five points above the relegation zone after Burnley dropped them to 17th earlier in the day, was exacerbated by Stuart Dallas’ nasty-looking knee injury just before halftime, which Marsch later confirmed was “not great.” When captain Liam Cooper limped out of the warm-up, he had already been ruled out of contention.