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Antoine Semenyo’s goal in first-half stoppage time was enough for City to close the gap on Arsenal at the top Will Unwin was at Elland Road. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Leeds assistant manager Eddie Riemer gives Daniel Farke’s verdict by proxy. “I just had a short chat with him … there were incidents … obviously time-wasting … several times a yellow card … six minutes time, five seconds to go, and you don’t allow a set piece … come on … put the last ball in … of course you’re emotional … he runs on the pitch … his question was “for what? ” … maybe it was for being too aggressive … but emotions are a big part of this game … he is normally never aggressive … I think it is very harsh. As for some Leeds fans reportedly booing during the brief break for those observing Ramadan to take on liquid: “Disappointed with some supporters if it happened … we try to learn. ” We do get to hear from Pep, though, and he’s not totally happy either, telling Sky: “A huge victory … we made a lot of passes … they guys made an extraordinary effort … [Semenyo’s] impact has been really good … I wish [Haaland] comes back! … every game is really tough … Premier League is more competitive than ever … every game a real battle … to qualify for the Champions League is the main target for the club … we have a big gap … it is not done but this first step is massively important … one game at a time … three days [until the Forest game] … then after the FA Cup … thank you so much to let us play at 8pm instead of 3pm so we have less recovery to go to Real Madrid … so again, thank you so much … but we are going to deal with that. ” In an ideal world, we’d get to hear from Daniel Farke, and why so much steam came parping out of his ears with such blistering intensity. But because he’s been red-carded, that won’t happen. Such a shame, it could have been quite the soliloquy. The match-winner Antoine Semenyo speaks to Sky. “We just want to win all of the games on our side … whatever Arsenal do, we’ll just have to wait and see … we need to control what we can control … we are happy … Leeds are very tough … it was a great win … we get ready for Forest in the week. ” Anyway, here’s where it leaves the table. Manchester City move to within two points of the leaders Arsenal, who host Chelsea tomorrow afternoon. Leeds remain in 15th but the healthy cushion they’ve got over the relegation places remains, thanks to West Ham’s earlier defeat at Liverpool. This run-in is going to be fun. That strange flare-up is all over now. Everyone’s calmed down, and having clapped their own fans, headed off down the tunnel. Pep stopped awhile to give Rodri one of those animated, passionate, intense tactical debriefs, but otherwise, that was that. … not that the reversion to bonhomie lasts too long. Soon enough there’s another brouhaha, Jayden Bogle and Rúben Dias seething at each other, Bernardo Silva mooching around with a face on as well. Pep in the middle trying to calm everything down. Really strange. All of this has come out of nowhere, it didn’t seem a particularly fraught game. A strange end to the game as Daniel Farke races onto the pitch and makes a beeline for referee Peter Bankes, telling it as he sees it en route, with great feeling. The referee flashes red before Farke can reach him. Farke is literally hopping mad, the head totally gone, and fortunate his keeper Karl Darlow is on hand to step in between the pair and usher his boss away from more trouble. A weird one, given there didn’t seem any particularly controversial moment in the game, and Farke is soon laughing and joking with his opposite number Pep Guardiola. An uncharacteristic eruption of fume. No Haaland, no problem. Well, not in the end. 90 min +6: Ampadu sends the ball into the City box from the left. Nmecha wins a header, but not to any great effect, and Donnarumma claims. 90 min +5: Savinho and Silva look to combine down the right with a long-distance one-two, but Struijk is on point to whip clear. 90 min +4: Rodri goes down and wins a cheap free kick. The clock ticks on. “Six minutes on the board – Arsenal fans would rather it be 666. ” Charles Antaki there, with a callback to his email of 37 minutes, I’ll be bound. 90 min +2: Ait-Nouri is booked for extended faff. Then Savinho is yellowed for a pretty cynical swipe at an in-flight Gudmundsson. “Gnonto running down the left wing gives such Rod Wallace vibes that I’m looking around to see if Gordon Strachan is pulling the strings, ” sighs Niall Mullen, of the salad days of 1992. 90 min +1: James shanks a cross out of play from the right. He grimaces, aware that he’s just wasted the first of those six additional minutes. 90 min: A chance for Ampadu to fling a long throw into the City box. In it goes. It’s cleared. But there will be six more minutes for Leeds to find an equaliser and do themselves – and Arsenal – a solid. 88 min: The corner’s swung into a crowded mixer. Bijol’s first touch is a header that flashes wide of the bottom-left corner. What an introduction that could have been. Daniel Farke holds his head in his hands. Leeds, who were so quiet for so long in this second half, are giving this a good go now. 87 min: A ball comes in from the right and hits Nunes on the arm, but the defender had no knowledge of it. Leeds want a penalty, but that’s not going to happen. A natural position, Calvert-Lewin having given him a little shove too. Manchester City are hanging on a bit here. Shades of last Saturday against Newcastle. Leeds win another corner. Before it can be taken, Leeds send on Bijol and Piroe for Rodon and Justin, while City swap Cherki for Ake. 85 min: Dias slices the ball out for a Leeds corner on the left. Before it can be taken, Ampadu wrestles Silva to the floor. Silva not happy. Then there’s some more idiocy, between Donnarumma and Gnonto, and the City keeper is booked for his role in it. Stach eventually sends the corner in, and Rodri clears. 83 min: Cherki tries to release Semenyo down the middle but Gudmundsson reads the danger and steps in to intercept. 81 min: Some panic in the Manchester City box as Calvert-Lewin and Gnonto scuttle about. They can’t get a shot away, but the ball goes out for a throw, which Ampadu slings into the mixer. Donnarumma slaps it clear. A welcome reminder for the hosts that this isn’t over quite yet. The first stirrings from Leeds for a good while. 79 min: City look comfortable. Justin not so much, as he’s cut his shin in an accidental coming together with Guehi. But he’s battling on. 77 min: Ait-Nouri dribbles down the left and cuts back for Silva, who whips a first-time cross towards Reijnders. Struijk heads clear just in time, with the City man preparing to head home from six yards. 76 min: Leeds make a double change, and it’s an offensive one. Gnonto and James replace Bogle and Gruev. 74 min: Cherki wins a free kick out on the right with one of his cute dribbles. He takes it himself. Calvert-Lewin sends a fine defensive header halfway up the pitch. A second goal for City looks much more likely than a Leeds equaliser, and the current x G of 1. 39 to 1. 77 reflects that. A reminder that it was 1-0 on 25 minutes. 72 min: … Guehi steers a clever header towards the top right. Darlow claws it out, a wonder save. Guehi didn’t get too much power on his header, to be fair, though the placement was spot on. Great play all round. 71 min: Semenyo, found by Cherki on the right-hand edge of the D, aims a curler towards the top left. It looks in all the way, so Leeds are happy to see Struijk stick out a leg and deflect it wide left. Then from the corner … 70 min: O’Reilly is able to walk off, and he’s not limping heavily, so fingers crossed that’s good news for the young man, and for City. But for now, he’s replaced by Reijnders. Not a bad reserve, eh? 69 min: O’Reilly goes down holding that ankle. “Not good, ” he tells his captain Silva. Looks like he’s done for the evening. 68 min: City make their first swap, replacing the ineffective Marmoush with Savinho. 67 min: O’Reilly is limping a little bit, having turned his ankle when planting his foot awkwardly. But he’s trooping on for now. Ait-Nouri speculates towards the top-right corner from distance, but that’s never going close. 65 min: Leeds make the first change of the evening, replacing Aaronson with Nmecha. 64 min: It feels an age ago when Leeds were causing City all sorts of problems. Now City are calmly stroking the ball hither and yon, in full Comfortable Stroll mode. 63 min: Dias strides down the middle of the park and feeds Marmoush to his left. Marmoush shoots low, but weakly. The ball breaks back to Dias, who scuffs a shot. The ball nearly squirts back to Marmoush, six yards out, but to Leeds’ relief rolls out for a goal kick. All pretty scrappy. 61 min: This game isn’t really going anywhere at the moment. A lot of meandering. City will be perfectly happy with that, their task now two-thirds complete. 59 min: Cherki steals the ball from Gruev again, this time legally, in the centre circle, and sends Semenyo racing off down the right. Rodon comes across to put a stop to his gallop, but at the possible expense of his hamstring. The Leeds defender goes down feeling the back of his leg, grimacing, but perhaps it’s not so bad as he’s going to continue. 57 min: Cherki knocks Gruev over. The ball sticks between the prone Gruev’s legs. A free kick. Cherki nonetheless rakes the ball free with a dragback, then catches Gruev on the shin. A wee bit unnecessary, and a different referee might have taken a dimmer view, but this one makes do with a stop-playing-silly-buggers lecture. 56 min: City with more sterile domination. The Leeds fans are making a lot of noise, nevertheless. 54 min: Calvert-Lewin scampers after Gruev’s shovelled pass down the left. He’s free. He’s also offside. 53 min: Silva slips Nunes into space down the right. Nunes crosses to the near post, where Marmoush makes a run to meet the ball. He flips it wide right. Marmoush hasn’t really managed to get involved. 52 min: City settle things down with some of the old possession. 50 min: Cherki’s stumble allows Leeds to counter at speed. Stach advances down the right and curls long for Calvert-Lewin, entering the box from the other flank. Calvert-Lewin takes a touch, sets himself, and shoots low. Nunes comes across to block at the expense of a corner. That corner leads to a long throw, which leads to Gudmundsson attempting a Robbie Fowler style long-distance looper towards the top-right corner. Miles over. But that blast of action will give Leeds succour. 48 min: Gudmundsson slaloms down the left and is nudged over by Rodri. The free kick is sent into the mixer and half cleared; Aaronson chests down but doesn’t have enough time to get a shot away. 47 min: A scrappy start to the half. Manchester City get the second half started. No changes. Half-time advertising break. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both i OS and Android … so what are you waiting for? Leeds were the better side for half an hour, but City slowly came back into it, applied some pressure, and got their reward seconds before the half-time whistle! They head down the tunnel with renewed spring in their step! Leeds would have been the happier going into the break … but not now! All of a sudden, Cherki plays a glorious defence-splitter down the inside-left channel to release Ait-Nouri, who crosses dangerously this time! His low ball is poked into the bottom right by Semenyo’s extended leg, and City are ahead! 45 min: Ait-Nouri is released down the left by Marmoush, but nobody in City black can take the resulting low cross under control. There will be two additional minutes. 44 min: Calvert-Lewin cleverly chests a long pass into the path of Aaronson, but Dias reads the intention and gets in the way, just in time. A reminder that Leeds have carried plenty of threat this evening. 42 min: O’Reilly should have scored, really. But he’s not letting the miss get him down, and he takes control of a low left-wing cross with a gorgeous trap and spin. But he doesn’t quite manage to make enough space to get a shot away. Cherki sniffs around to see if he can poke goalwards but neither City player is able to achieve their goal. The visitors have finally woken up. 40 min: City finally get something on target. Nunes crosses from the right. O’Reilly, last weekend’s two-goal hero against Newcastle, powers his close-range header straight at Darlow, who nevertheless reacts magnificently to parry and clear. The ball pings out for a corner, from which nothing comes. 39 min: City press Leeds back. But then Stach steals the ball off a lumbering Rodri’s toes, and releases Aaonson down the inside-right channel. He’s free! But he’s unable to force the ball through Donnarumma and into the bottom-right corner. Then the flag pops up for offside anyway. 38 min: Nunes plays a ball down the right to nobody in particular. City have been strangely out of sorts. “Not that I know much about match report writing, but I suspect that Will Unwin already has a paragraph drafted about Leeds ruing missed chances, ” begins Kári Tulinius. “Mind you, City are so weirdly characterless tonight that I would struggle to say anything coherent about their performance so far. They’ll need one of their players to make himself the report’s protagonist. ” 37 min: City continue to pin Leeds back, but there’s no way through. On that subject, here’s Charles Antaki: “Man City not troubling the Leeds penalty area? So far, then, so good: Arsenal fans’ voodoo dolls, inverted pentangles and recitations from the Egyptian Book of the Dead working satisfactorily. Upside-down crucifixes and readings aloud from one of Dennis Wheatley’s more hysterical novels ready in reserve. ” 35 min: City’s first corner of the evening. Cherki sends it in from the left, to no effect whatsoever. But the visitors are hauling themselves back into this, and 49 percent of the last five minutes has been played out in Leeds’ final third. 34 min: Silva is now getting the bird for having taken a toecap on the old nips. Such is the pantomime of football. 32 min: Gudmundsson and Silva wrestle near the corner flag down the City right. The former hooks a leg around the latter’s chest, and City’s captain goes down screaming. He doesn’t even get a free kick. Another slightly odd non-decision from the referee. Both teams have now benefitted from a couple of generous ones, so at least it’s evened out in that sense.