Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was thrilled after his side edged their noses back in front of Liverpool in the Premier League title race with a 4-0 win at Leeds.
Rodri headed City into a half-time lead and further goals in the second period from Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho lifted them back to the top of the table.
Guardiola made five changes after his side’s midweek Champions League win against Real Madrid, but it made little difference as they marched on in defence of their domestic crown.
"We knew coming here the way they play, we suffered a lot in the first half. But in the end we had control and could have scored more. An incredible result for us," Guardiola told Sky Sports.
"They are so fast up front. Today was so important to make our chances to be champions again.
"We defended well and sometimes these type of games set-pieces become so important.
"We have five games to go, potentially six until the end of the season. I prefer to feel less pressure than I am feeling. It is a long season and this is the last effort."
City secured a third straight league win for the first time in 2022, but it was not the walk in the park the scoreline would suggest against an embattled Leeds side hungry for points in their fight to beat the drop.
Leeds were much-improved following Monday’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace, but their first league defeat in six games leaves them one place and five points above third-bottom Everton, who have two games in hand.
City were almost caught cold in the opening minutes when Rodrigo raced unopposed from halfway after a slip by Joao Cancelo, but Ilkay Gundogan rescued his team-mate with a vital block in the box.
Leeds had been dealt another injury blow before kick-off when skipper Liam Cooper limped out of the warm-up and was replaced by Mateusz Klich.
Robin Koch switched back to centre-half alongside Pascal Struijk and Leeds’ new-look defence was undone in the 13th minute.
Stuart Dallas was penalised for his foul on Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden’s excellent outswinging free-kick was headed home by Rodri, who ghosted on to the ball unopposed.
Leeds saw little of the ball, and showed little cohesion when they did, until the half-hour mark when they began to pose City some problems.
Junior Firpo rifled a shot over the crossbar and as Leeds exposed gaps in City’s final third, Raphinha threatened in and around the box.
But it required a brilliant sliding block from Struijk to prevent Sterling from adding City’s second goal after Luke Ayling’s mis-kick inside the area in the 43rd minute.
The home side’s wretched luck with injuries this season continued in first-half stoppage time when Dallas twisted his knee in a 50-50 challenge with Jack Grealish and was carried off the field on a stretcher.
Leeds began the second half well, forcing City on to the back foot, but the visitors twice served warning with swift counter-attacks and doubled their lead from another set-piece in the 54th minute.
Foden’s corner was headed goalwards by Ruben Dias and Ake turned to sweep the ball home from six yards at the far post.
Ake hobbled off soon after and was replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko before Leeds went close through Raphinha, whose shot was deflected over by Aymeric Laporte after he had burst into the box.
But City put the game to bed with an excellent third goal in the 78th minute. Ederson’s clearance was chested into Foden’s path and his through-ball was buried by Jesus.
Cancelo was denied in a one-on-one by Illan Meslier soon after, but to their credit Leeds went down fighting.
Daniel James and Sam Greenwood saw successive goalbound shots blocked and fellow substitute Joe Gelhardt’s effort was saved by Ederson before Fernandinho, a late replacement for Rodri, arrowed home a low shot in time added on.
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 435hp at 5,900rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,800-5,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Price: from Dh498,542
On sale: now
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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