Pep Guardiola hails ‘huge victory’ at Leeds as Man City reel in leaders Arsenal

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola declared it “a huge victory” for his side after Antoine Semenyo’s solitary goal clinched them a hard-fought 1-0 win at Leeds.

Semenyo struck his sixth goal in 11 appearances for City since joining from Bournemouth in January, clinically converting a rare chance for his side in first-half stoppage time to lift them to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Leeds, who remain six points above the relegation zone, were left to rue a string of missed early chances after a barnstorming start, while head coach Daniel Farke was sent off after the final whistle for remonstrating on the pitch with referee Peter Bankes.

Guardiola said: “They started really well. We expect it here at Elland Road.

“Leeds are always so intense, and after that, we did what I think we have been good at for the last decade, together through a million passes – to make the vibe of the crowd a little bit calmer.

“We let them run and run through our passes, and when they became a bit more fatigued, OK, now we are going to pass the ball to try to score a goal, and we found it in the first half.

“We had incredible focus in all departments. We didn’t create much, but we didn’t concede anything. It was a little bit more and more uncomfortable (in the closing stages), but we defended really well. It’s a huge victory for us.”

Play was temporarily halted by referee Bankes in the 11th minute to allow City’s Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast and the break was met by some boos from a section of home fans.

Guardiola added: “It’s the modern world, right? Respect the religion, respect the diversity. That is the point. The Premier League said ‘OK for the fasting, you can be one or two minutes’, so we did that for