Gundogan Brace Takes City Four Points Clear of Arsenal

Manchester City moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League by surviving a late scare to beat a Leeds side playing under new manager Sam Allardyce for the first time.

Two fine first-half goals by Ilkay Gundogan had done the damage for City, who appeared utterly dominant as they headed towards their 10th straight league win.

Gundogan’s first neat finish, which came after Riyad Mahrez found him in space on the edge of the area, was into the bottom left-hand corner of Joel Robles’ goal.

His second, again with Mahrez the provider, was identical apart from that he found the opposite corner of the net.

City were in full control but could not find a third goal to finish Leeds off after the break. Even Erling Haaland, for once, failed to score – his best effort came back off the post.

Their best chance to wrap the game up came with six minutes to go, when Pascal Struijk fouled Phil Foden inside the area and referee Andrew Madley pointed to the spot.

Regular penalty-taker Haaland passed up the chance to take it and add to his 51-goal tally for the season, but saw Gundogan miss out on a hat-trick when he sent his effort against the post.

Elsewhere, two late goals against Bournemouth finally gave Frank Lampard  his first win (3-1) since his return as Chelsea’s interim manager yesterday.

The Blues had lost all four Premier League games since Lampard’s return in April, but had led through Conor Gallagher’s early header.

Matias Vina levelled for Bournemouth, but Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix struck inside the last 10 minutes.

Relegation remains a possibility for the Cherries with three games left, while Chelsea are 11th in the table.