Ilkay Gundogan is making Man City's summer contract decision easy for them despite penalty mistake

Few teams can make wholesale changes to their side in a must-win game and still dominate proceedings. When you have a player like Ilkay Gundogan, though, it's a far easier task.

Replacing Rodri, who didn't start a Premier League match for the first time in 25 games, Gundogan dropped into defensive midfield against Leeds like he'd never been away, setting the tempo and keeping Manchester City ticking.

And it was Gundogan who popped up on the edge of the box, twice, to find both bottom corners and set City on their way to another three points. They are three wins away from being crowned Premier League champions again, and this was another procession on coronation day.

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Captain Gundogan gave a passionate speech in the City huddle on the pitch before kick-off, and did the talking with his feet for the following 90 minutes. His positioning allowed Kevin De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez to roam ahead of him, and whenever Leeds tried to get out of their own box, he was well-placed to cut them off.

Not content with simply dictating play, the German cleverly made his way to the edge of the box to curl City ahead with a lovely finish from Riyad Mahrez's cutback, albeit with no defender near him at all.

If that was bad defending, it was criminal from Leeds to allow Gundogan to jog into the same area, without challenge, and this time he found the opposite corner from another Mahrez cross. The finishes were as clinical as the defending was abysmal.

This is the period of the season when Guardiola turns to Gundogan for his experience and quality. It's no coincidence that Gundogan starts in the big games - like against Bayern Munich and Arsenal - along with the