Phil Foden was in disbelief after he rescued all three points for Manchester City after a totally unexpected fightback from Leeds United. Foden, who had got the ball rolling by scoring in the first minute, fired in the winner in added time to grab a 3-2 victory for Pep Guardiola's side after the struggling visitors had come back from two goals down at the break to level the score.
Foden the hero for Man City
Foden's first goal in the first minute of the game saw him become only the second City player along with Erling Haaland to score more than once in the Premier League this season. And after an unusually quiet performance from his usually insatiable team-mate, Foden stepped up again and hit a brilliant winner from outside the area. Josko Gvardiol had doubled City's lead after Foden's goal in a totally dominant first-half performance from Guardiola's side.
But the game took a dramatic turn in the second half as Leeds came out with renewed hunger and energy, hitting back through a Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal and then levelling when Lukas Nmecha scored on the rebound after seeing his penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Foden, though, had the final say.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportFoden: One of the wildest games I've played
Foden said: "It's up there as one of the wildest games. We had full control in the first half. They changed their system in the second half and we couldn't get going. It was a frustrating half. But when there was a short break the manager got us together and we adapted to their formation. We had a few half chances and finally I've found a bit of space and found the bottom of the net. We're delighted with the result."
The title race is never straightforward. There's always ups and downs and periods where you can't seem to get going and we've had that. The belief and togetherness came through at the end. Hopefully that's the case today that we can kick on from here. But you never know what to expect. I was so hungry today to play and prove to myself I could still score goals. I missed a few chances against Newcastle and wanted to put it right."
Dias furious with second half display
City defender Ruben Dias was livid with how his side wilted in the second half and let Leeds back into the game. He said: "The mistakes that happened cannot happen. It was just not good enough. We're not happy with the beginning of the second-half especially. Maybe 10, 15 minutes in we finally adjusted, started to play more comfortably but by then I think it was already 2-1.
"At the end of the day, I feel we need to leave this on a positive note because mistakes happen and are part of football. Obviously we're challenging for everything in every season we play, and these kind of mistakes can cost us heavily. But still, we faced the situation, kept fighting, had the chance for Phil , a clear chance for Omar just before and I'm proud of the way the team kept fighting."
Getty Images SportFoden: Title race 'never straightforward'
Foden's winner averted a third consecutive disappointing result for City after their 2-1 defeat at Newcastle last week and their 2-0 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. The match-winner explained: "I was so hungry today to play and prove to myself I could still score goals. I missed a few chances against Newcastle and wanted to put it right.
Instead of trailing leaders Arsenal by six points in third place, City climbed into second in the Premier League table, four points behind the Gunners before they play Chelsea on Sunday. City visit Fulham on Tuesday and then have another home game, against Sunderland next Saturday.
"The title race is never straightforward," Foden added. "There's always ups and downs and periods where you can't seem to get going and we've had that. The belief and togetherness came through at the end. Hopefully that's the case today that we can kick on from here. But you never know what to expect. I was so hungry today to play and prove to myself I could still score goals. I missed a few chances against Newcastle and wanted to put it right."