Pep Guardiola was furious when he heard the final whistle but a very different Manchester City side did enough to beat Leeds in the Premier League.
Manchester City were awarded a free kick about 45 yards from goal and what happened next didn't sit well with Sam Allardyce.
The new Leeds United boss, and presumably still host of the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, could only watch from his technical area when Pep Guardiola's side turned down the chance to propel him to the top for boss. Instead, Julian Alvarez and Aymeric Laporte passed between them as if they were in the park as Leeds striker Patrick Bamford stood a few feet away with no idea what they were doing so casually.
Suddenly, the ball was returned to Kevin De Bruyne and a crowd ran into the box ready to serve. Instead, the Belgian made way for Riyad Mahrez and Haaland was beaten once again as the Algerian ignored everyone in the box and set up Ilkay Gundogan. As a man you know from Allardyce knows, you can't win football games if you don't aim. Except the tipppy-tappy nonsense erupted in whatever form Leeds had and Gundogan sent the ball home to put Man City ahead after just 19 minutes.
Eight minutes later, Gundogan was even able to touch the ball after being found in a similar position by Mahrez before finishing past Joel Robles to double City's lead. Leeds have been killed and their football savior will have to wait for another chance to prove himself as one of the best coaches in the game.
If that seems unnecessarily harsh to the coach of a relegation-threatened team lacking form and confidence in the face of City's best version, it was Allardyce who deliberately chose to speak to each other this week when not necessary. Based on this, President Khaldoon Al Mubarak will not rush to test the veteran's assertion that he can challenge for a hat-trick with this team.
The treble was a closer game for City and the 2-1 win helped them in two games. Not only are they now four points ahead of Arsenal after playing the same number of games, but Guardiola can also rest some key first-team players ahead of their trip to Madrid.
It's a real gamble for the manager, given what happened recently with Leicester City. A few weeks ago, City took a decisive lead against the relegation-threatened Foxes before Guardiola did what he later admitted was too many changes and nearly took all three points. . It seemed to shake Guardiola and recall the mistakes of years ago when so much tinkering had caused them to lose speed and momentum, he turned less. However, whether it is due to the size of Madrid or simply because too many of his players are exhausted - 'we need fresh minds and fresh feet' is the explanation given first. the match - the Man City boss made seven substitutions for this match; that's more than he did in the FA Cup semi-final against Championship rivals.
It wasn't a bad squad, but it was equally exciting for fans to see Alvarez, De Bruyne and Erling Haaland start together for the first time in the league, which begs the question. How can the typical lineup welcome them all . After a long time without upsetting the balance, will this XI take a risk?
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