In order to cut the distance on Premier League leaders Arsenal, Manchester City defeated Leeds 3-1 thanks to two more goals from Erling Haaland.
Haaland scored twice in the second half against the team that, thanks to his father Alf-stint Inge's as a player at Elland Road, he supported as a young fan.
After Rodri had opened the scoring in the final seconds of the first half, the Norwegian striker, who was born in Leeds, scored his 25th and 26th goals in 20 appearances for City this season. Although Leeds' Pascal Struijk headed in a corner in the 73rd minute and inspired a late burst from his team, the outcome was never in doubt.
Prior to the World Cup break, Pep Guardiola's team overcame their home league loss to Brentford and moved to within five points of first place. Last week, they eliminated Liverpool from the Carabao Cup.
After only 30 seconds, Haaland nearly got the game started when he raced on to a ball over the top and pushed Illan Meslier into a save. Six minutes later, Kevin De Bruyne curled City's next attempt wide, and shortly after that, he narrowly missed Ilkay Gundogan with a beautiful cross.
After Leeds put in a lot of effort to hold City for the following 20 minutes, Gundogan sent a low shot that just missed the target, and Haaland, who had been let in by De Bruyne, caused Meslier to make another key stop with his legs.
In the 34th minute, Willy Gnonto misfired Leeds' first shot on goal, which came after the home team had spent the whole of the first half in their own half.
Grealish wasted two excellent opportunities with poorly timed shots on goal, but just as it looked like Leeds had the champions under control until the half, Rodri opened the scoring. Meslier stopped Riyad Mahrez's low, angled shot, and the Spain midfielder scored his first goal of the year by converting the rebound.
Beginning the second half, the same pattern persisted as City patiently held onto the ball and the visitors were given a second goal in the 51st minute.
Grealish intercepted Liam Cooper's poorly placed pass to teammate center-half Robin Koch, and after sprinting toward goal, the England forward squared the ball for Haaland to score.
Rasmus Kristensen's last-ditch challenge prevented Gundogan from giving City a third goal on the hour mark, and Leeds supporters began making fun of their old favorite Kalvin Phillips.
The City midfielder was greeted to chants of "you're too heavy to play for Leeds" as he warmed up on the sidelines after being pulled out of the starting lineup due to his weight.
Soon after, Phillips' grin became wider when Haaland made it 3-0 for City in the 64th minute by scoring on a first-time attempt after another superb assist from Grealish. When Struijk outran Manuel Akanji to head in Sam Greenwood's corner in the 73rd minute, Leeds gave the home crowd something to cheer about.
Meslier denied Haaland when the Norwegian appeared poised to score his third goal, while Leeds substitute Joe Gelhardt came just inches short of converting Greenwood's cross into his own net.
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