Story of Leeds United's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City summed up by post-match scenes
Leeds United 0 Manchester City 1 You could tell a lot about what happened in nearly 100 minutes of Elland Road football by the reaction to the end of it.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola turned and blew kisses to the fans. "My family were in there," he said later, but his words were as disingenuous as his actions.
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke ran straight for referee Peter Bankes to complain, we were told, that more time was not added to the time added on.
Whilst it never really threatened to seriously spill over, the players had to be kept apart as various arguments rumbled on.
All the while the many Leeds fans who had stayed beyond the final whistle showed their appreciation for how the home players competed.
It had been an even and fiercely-contested match.
For the pressure they put Leeds under from about 35 minutes onwards, a Manchester City win was a fair result, but 1-0 was a fair scoreline. City did enough, but only just.
Three o'clock defeats for West Ham United and Burnley, a tough Sunday assignment for Tottenham Hotspur and a game between Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest which was always going to help Leeds one way or another meant they had a bit of freedom to make a statement with their performance and not fret too much about the result.
The way Leeds played did not tell us anything new, just emphasised everything we have learnt since they last narrowly lost to City, in late November – that they belong in this division, but still have work to do to be the team they want to be.
They have twice been utterly outclassed by Premier League favourites Arsenal but two games against the team pushing the Gunners hard have been far more even. It helped that Saturday's was an evening kick-off, whereas January's mugging by Mikel Arteta's side took place in broad daylight. It helped too that City were without what would have been the only Leeds-born player on the pitch because Erling Haaland was injured.
But that did not detract from how the Whites performed.
They could take solace from high-class opponents having to use their repertoire of dark arts, wasting time and feigning injury. There was also a sly stamp on Ilia Gruev's shin by Rayan Cherki which if video assistant referees actually served the purpose they are meant to could have had Bankes pulling the red card out of his pocket much earlier.
But any team with an ounce of intelligence winds the clock down with a one-goal lead to protect going into the final minutes and Leeds had not covered themselves in glory when their fans booed a harmlessly-timed pause signalled on the big screen for the visiting Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast.
Farke getting so angry about the referee stopping the game just 16 seconds after the minimum six added minutes seemed a tad desperate.
He did not get the chance to explain or apologise because of rules about red-carded managers not speaking to the media, but his frustration was probably as much about his own team’s finishing.
Leeds had City on the ropes for 35 minutes without landing a blow.
"They started really well, which we expected here at Elland Road," said Guardiola.
The game was only three minutes old when Dominic Calvert-Lewin stabbed a Brenden Aaronson pass wide. He should have scored.
The chance Pascal Struijk's ball over the top presented was more difficult. He threaded it between Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma, but just beyond the far post.
Well played through by Anton Stach, Aaronson could not beat Donnarumma one-on-one, not helped by a heavy penultimate touch.
That was 40 minutes in, and although City were just starting to hog the ball, it was only on the back of it that they had their first shots, Karl Darlow denying Omar Marmoush, then Nico O'Reilly.
So Anotinie Semenyo stretching onto a Rayan Ait-Nouri pull-back in the second minute added to the first half was a kick in the proverbials.
City had the better of the second half but again Calvert-Lewin missed. He had space when Stach found him at the far post in the 49th minute, not by the time he controlled.
Ruben Dias produced a 63rd-minute shot so bad it became an excellent chance for Marmoush but rather like Calvert-Lewin's first opportunity, he failed to hit the target.
Darlow's stretching save from Guehi's header was excellent, but the only one he had to reach into the top drawer for.
Leeds pushed hard and made the closing stages chaotic by putting on a second big striker and two wingers, then throwing Joel Piroe on as well to really go hell for leather. Jaka Bijol, who came on with the striker, might have headed his first touch in from an 87th-minute corner.
In the end, it was not to be, but Leeds gained more than the scoreline suggested.
The clocks are still to go forward and yet already we can say with a fair degree of confidence they will be back for another couple of cracks at City next season.
Leeds United: Darlow; Justin (Piroe 87), Rodon (Bijol 87), Struijk; Bogle (James 75), Ampadu, Gruev (Gnonto 75), Gudmundsson; Stach, Aaronson (Nmecha 66); Calvert-Lewin. Unused substitutes: Perri, Longstaff, Tanaka, Bornauw.
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Aït-Nouri; Rodri, Silva, Cherki (Ake 87), O'Reilly (Reijnders 70); Marmoush (Savinho 68), Semenyo. Unused substitutes: Trafford, Stones, Doku, Gonzalez, Khusanov, Foden.
Referee: P Bankes (Liverpool).