Leeds and Man City draw as Pep Guardiola shares points with Marcelo Bielsa

Manchester City and Leeds United shared the points in a entertaining 1-1 draw at a rain-drenched Elland Road.

The visitors were rampant from the first whistle and Kevin De Bruyne had already hit the post before Raheem Sterling placed City in front after 17 minutes. Thereafter Leeds came into it more, with Ederson forced to make point blank saves from Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling.

Leeds’ manager Marcelo Bielsa made some attacking changes early in the second half. One of his substitutes, Rodrigo, came off the bench to score an equaliser within three minutes after Ederson dropped a corner kick at his feet. Both teams then went at each other in a relentless last quarter of the game, with neither side able to find a winning goal.

The draw moves Leeds up to fifth in the Premier League and Manchester City up to tenth.

Is Ruben Dias the answer for City at the back? A price tag of £65 million inevitably brings with it a sense of expectation. It was a difficult debut for Dias tonight, coming into a completely new environment to face a vibrant Leeds United side, just six days after his new teammates had been humbled 5-2 at home by Leicester City.

Dias certainly fits the mould of a Guardiola defender. He is comfortable in possession, isn’t fazed in one-on-one situations and seems to have good recovery pace. The way he combined with Laporte tonight will be encouraging for Guardiola, and individually he made several key interventions when Leeds started piling forwards in the second half.

There was little Dias could do about the equaliser, which was gifted to Rodrigo after Ederson dropped a routine corner. That means two more points dropped for Manchester City; by tomorrow night they could be seven behind Liverpool. It’s early days in the 2020/21 season, but if Liverpool or any other club set a brutal pace to start this season, Guardiola will need his defence to bed down quickly to be able to go with them.

The PFA Players’ Player of the Year last season gave another demonstration as to why he is the best player in the Premier League. De Bruyne’s consistent industry in winning the ball for City deep in the Leeds half was matched with a number of driving runs that dragged his team forwards. Had has inventive early free kick gone into the net rather than clattering the post it would have been a contender for goal of the month.

Leeds United (4-3-3): Meslier 6; Ayling 7, Koch 7, Cooper 6, Dallas 6; Phillips 5, Klich 6, Costa 7; Roberts 6, Alioski 6, Bamford 7

SUBS: Davis 6, Poveda 7, Rodrigo 7

Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson 6; Walker 6, Dias 7, Laporte 6, Mendy 5; Rodri 6, De Bruyne 8, Foden 6; Mahrez 6, Sterling 7, Torres 6

SUBS: Bernardo 6, Ake 6, Fernandinho 6

17’ GOAL! Leeds United 0 Manchester City 1 (Sterling 17) It's been coming. A poor ball out by Meslier is picked off by Mendy, and he strides forward. Koch makes a mess of an interception of Mendy's pass and City work the ball to Sterling, who cuts in from the left and strokes a lovely shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

45+1’ HUGE CHANCE! Ayling robs Mendy of the ball after he tries to cushion down a crossfield pass in his own area. He's in on goal and could shoot with his right, but cuts inside the sliding challenge of Laporte instead to shoot off his left foot. Ederson is out quickly again to smother the shot and Mendy is reprieved.

58’ OFF THE BAR! Leeds break quickly and Rodrigo gets one on one with Dias. He cuts to the left and shoots, but the ball clips off the bar and over.

59’ GOAL! Leeds United 1 (Rodrigo 59) Manchester City 1 Disaster for City, as Ederson drops the corner onto Mendy and it breaks to Rodrigo, who pirouettes and guides the loose ball into an empty net. Leeds are level!

69’ EXCELLENT SAVE! A cross from the right glances off a City head and hits Rodrigo on the run. It propels at goal from eight yards out and Ederson gets a hand to it at full stretch, turning the ball onto the bar and over.

85’ CLOSE! Sterling jinks into space on the left of the area but curls his shot inches wide of the post.

Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, the 34 goals scored in all competitions by Raheem Sterling are the highest of any player in the Premier League.