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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Lori Ewing<\/p>\n
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Hard-charging Manchester City went four points clear of Arsenal at the top the Premier League on Saturday, beating Leeds United 2-1 with a pair of near-identical goals from Ilkay Gundogan, stretching their winning league run to 10 games.<\/p>\n
City’s prolific striker Erling Haaland graciously handed the ball to Gundogan to take a penalty kick in the 84th minute for what would have been a hat-trick, but Leeds keeper Joel Robles had no trouble turning aside his shot.<\/p>\n
Pep Guardiola’s side had run circles around Leeds with numerous excellent scoring chances before Gundogan struck in the 19th minute from the edge of the 18-yard box off a pass from Riyad Mahrez. Mahrez teed up Gundogan again eight minutes later in a carbon copy of his first goal.<\/p>\n
“We played an exceptional game,” Guardiola told BBC. “Our possession game was really good. First half was exceptional. We were maybe not as clinical as we should be. <\/p>\n
“The second half, we cannot forget it is three games in six days with a lot of mental pressure. At the end, the game could be over with the penalty. But they score and we have to suffer. But we played really, really good.”<\/p>\n
Guardiola had wanted Haaland to take the penalty, yelling: “You take it!”<\/p>\n
“The game is not over,” the Spaniard said. “It shows how nice and generous Erling is. If it is 4-0 with 10 minutes left, OK. But at 2-0? Erling is the best penalty taker right now so he has to take it.”<\/p>\n
Rodrigo Moreno pulled one back for Leeds in the 85th minute. <\/p>\n
With four games left, City have 82 points to Arsenal’s 78, and if the Gunners lose to Newcastle on Sunday, City will be the overwhelming favourites to lock in a third consecutive title.<\/p>\n
Leeds, playing their first game under interim manager Sam Allardyce who was parachuted in in a last-ditch effort to avoid relegation, are teetering in 17th place – and all three teams below them have a game in hand.<\/p>\n
Allardyce admitted it looked bound to be a blowout at halftime, but Leeds “changed in terms of pushing up the pitch.”<\/p>\n
Despite numerous scoring chances, and with the Etihad Stadium crowd cheering him on, Haaland was unable to extend the Premier League single-season record of 35 goals he set earlier in the week. <\/p>\n
The 22-year-old Norwegian, who is running roughshod over the record books in his debut Premier League season, could have had at least a couple of goals on Saturday, clanging one shot off the crossbar, another off the post, and narrowly missing a couple of others that left him shaking his head in frustration.<\/p>\n
“Today Erling could have scored two or three goals. He played incredibly well, in his movement and everything… how he fought for us,” Guardiola said.<\/p>\n
Treble-chasing Manchester City, who play Real Madrid on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, are unbeaten in 20 games through all competitions.<\/p>\n
The odds were stacked against Leeds, who have been in freefall for weeks and have the leakiest defence in the top flight, with 69 goals conceded in 35 games.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Pritha Sarkar)<\/p>\n
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