Manchester City defeated Leeds United, and Erling Haaland scored another goal

As Manchester City defeated Leeds United 3-1 at Elland Road on Wednesday to climb into second place in the Premier League, Erling Haaland continued his attack on the record books.

Haaland's 19th and 20th goals of the season, which made him the first player in league history to reach that milestone before January, together with a late first-half goal from Rodri, boosted Pep Guardiola's team to 35 points from 15 games this season, five points behind league leaders Arsenal.

Grealish's performance for Man City served as a warning to Arsenal: Illan Meslier, the goalkeeper for Leeds, stuffed Haaland on, despite Man City being by much the superior team in the first half. Before Rodri redirected a late rebound to give the visitors the lead at halftime, there were multiple possibilities.

After Grealish stole the ball from midfield, ran into the penalty area, and squared it to his teammate to roll into an empty net, Haaland, who was born in Leeds while his father was a member of the club, increased City's lead early in the second half.
In front of the Leeds goal, the City combination again teamed up to score City's third goal. Haaland finished off a Grealish feed back for his 26th goal across all competitions this season with a flawless first-time finish.

After the game, Haaland said, "I have a [goal] target but I cannot say it. I recently remarked in the locker room, "I could have scored five goals, but the most crucial thing is that we won.

"We must pursue Arsenal." I could have scored a few more goals, but that's life, and I need to work harder at the gym.
The hosts, who concluded the day in 15th place with 15 points, managed to get one back through Pascal Struijk in the 73rd minute, but it was too late.

After the game, Marsch observed, "The thing we know about our team is that we never stop." So, the goals' timing was uncomfortable, am I right? We might be able to make some adjustments and find a way to advance the game if we can make it into the half.

In many instances, he stated, "I thought we did a very good job. It's Man City, in many ways the finest team in the world with one of the best managers in the world, so you can't limit them fully.

On New Year's Eve, Man City will play at home against Everton, while Leeds will travel to St. James' Park to play third-place Newcastle.

Prior to the World Cup break, City had lost to Brentford in their previous league match, but they dominated from the off in West Yorkshire. Haaland had his first shot at goal after just 36 seconds, but his attempt to loft the ball into the net was brilliantly saved.

Leeds, who gave up 11 goals to City last season, continued to be in a tough spot when Haaland was given another wonderful opportunity to break the tie, but he once more failed to beat Meslier.

Rodri was there to score the game's first goal with City's 16th shot of the first period alone after numerous opportunities came and went for them.

Alfie Haaland needed 181 games in the Premier League to score 18 goals in the tournament, but his son just needed 14 games and scored six minutes into the second half to extend City's lead.

When Haaland converted another Grealish ball to make it three, he broke the previous record for the most games required to achieve the 20-goal threshold. He did so by seven games faster than the next-fastest player, Kevin Phillips.