Pep Guardiola praises City skipper Ilkay Gundogan following brace against Leeds

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has lauded his captain Ilkay Gundogan for a spectacular performance against Leeds United today.

The German midfielder netted twice as they beat Sam Allardyce’s side 2-1 in their Premier League clash.

Gundogan scored twice in the first half-hour but missed the chance to complete his hat-trick by fluffing his lines from the penalty spot later in the game.

However, his overall performance was excellent as he recorded the most passes in a Premier League game this season. One outside-of-the-boot delivery to Kevin De Bruyne stood out.

Guardiola said (via Man City’s official website): “It is not necessary that he scored two incredible goals.

“Reading the space, he has everything. How intelligent and how good he is. He does not need to score two goals to know how much I like this player.”

However, the Spaniard criticised Gundogan for his missed penalty. He hit the post with his chance to net a hat-trick.

Guardiola said regular spot-kick takers Erling Braut Haaland or Riyad Mahrez should have taken the penalty. The score was 2-0, and the game was not over.

Haaland had passed on the penalty opportunity to Gundogan, who struck the post. Leeds then pulled one back through Rodrigo.

City saw out the game and are now four points ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League title race with four games left.

They travel to Spain for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid in midweek.

They face Everton at Goodison Park in the league next weekend.