Manchester City dominate Leeds United with Kevin De Bruyne double

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:01 am

Manchester City extender their Premier League lead on Tuesday with an utterly comprehensive 7-0 win over Leeds United at the Etihad.

The hosts were three up at half-time after classy goals from Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne put them ahead over Leeds at the break.

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Riyad Mahrez kept the goalscoring going for City to start the second half when his shot from inside the penalty area took a deflection off Junior Firpo and beat Leeds keeper Illan Meslier.

De Bruyne added his second of the game just past the hour mark with a thunderbolt from distance after Man City once again dispossessed Leeds in their own half to make it 5-0 on the night.

John Stones made it six goals for Man City as the second half wore on, smashing a rebound from his own shot into the roof of the net to put Leeds on the end of their worst defeat in Premier League history.

Leeds biggest-ever defeat in England's top flight prior to this match was a 5-0 loss to Liverpool during the 1995-96 season.

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"There is nothing positive to take away from our performance," said Bielsa. "I can't find anything that can be valued. When there's nothing that's well done, it's not individualities that fail, but the conduction and organisation. There's no justification I can offer.

"Everything that happened was what we wanted to avoid. As there's nothing to take from it, it's inevitable I have to take responsibility for a defeat of this type. We've never had a performance like the one today."

City weren't done though, as Nathan Ake rose to meet a corner kick and powered his header past Meslier to help the hosts to final scoreline in an embarrassing loss for Marcelo Bielsa's side.

De Bruyne, whose return to fitness was hampered by COVID-19, said the win was a "booster" for the side.

"I think we played incredibly well, especially against the way they pressed. We found the right times to attack them. When we were 3-0 or 4-0 up it gets tough for them and they tried to keep it tight in the second half, but we had a lot of chances to score more.

"It's good for everybody, a lot of people who maybe didn't play a lot played today and chipped in. For the whole team it is a booster."

Man City are four points ahead of second-placed Liverpool in the table and five ahead of third-placed Chelsea, with Pep Guardiola's team having played one more game than the chasing pair.