Daniel Farke fumes at ‘fake injury’ as Manchester City use Gianluigi Donnarumma break to fuel late win over Leeds United in Premier League

City took the lead in the first minute through Phil Foden, and Josko Gvardiol made it two midway through the first half.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin and then Lukas Nmecha, a former City player, scored for the visitors, giving Leeds the hope of a potentially crucial point as they battle against relegation after last season’s promotion from the Championship.

Before Nmecha’s equaliser, City goalkeeper Donnarumma went down injured and required treatment, during which manager Pep Guardiola gave his players instructions from the touchline.

Farke believes that the Italian stopper went down in order to facilitate Guardiola’s chance to give his team new tactics.

“Everyone knows why he went down,” Farke said after the match.

“It is not the elephant in the room. Why he went down, it was obvious. It is within the rules. It is smart. If I like it? If it’s within the sense of fair play? If it should be like this, I will keep to myself. It is up to the authorities to find a solution.

“I ask the fourth official at this point if you want to do something. Our hands are tied.

“If we don’t educate our players in football what to do in terms of fair play and sportsmanship and whatever, and if we just try to bend the rules and even do a fake injury in order to do an additional team talk, it is not what I like personally. But if it is within the rules I can’t complain.”

Foden then grabbed his second of the match, and the winner, in the 91st minute at the Etihad.

The defeat was Leeds’ sixth loss in seven league games, with Farke’s side ending the match in 18th place.

Speaking to the BBC, Foden acknowledged the importance of the time Guardiola had to speak to his team.

“At half-time we were in control. Second half they came out, pressed us a lot higher, they put two up top and changed the formation a little bit,” he said.

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Video credit: SNTV

“We really struggled to get hold of the game. We got together on the side of the pitch and changed a few things, and it got better from there. That little break was crucial to get things right.

“The manager changed the way we pressed and the way we played. You can see from the moment we had the chat things got a lot better. It was crucial for helping us going on and winning the game.”

City ended the match in second place, four points behind Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

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