Daniel Farke felt his Leeds side had produced an almost perfect away performance as they leapt to second in the Championship table with victory at Bristol City.
Wilfried Gnonto was the match-winner at Ashton Gate with a low left-footed shot from 10 yards in the 48th minute after running on to a long ball from Junior Firpo.
Leeds should have won by a wider margin as they outplayed their mid-table opponents, but a mixture of Max O’Leary saves and some poor finishing kept City in the game.
Farke was delighted with the majority of his side’s display but admits they will need to be more ruthless in front of goal if they want to secure promotion back to the Premier League.
He said: “The margin of victory should have been greater. It was almost the perfect away performance.
“We were so dominant and created so many chances, but I have to criticise our failure to put them away.
“If we want to be celebrating in May we have to be more clinical.
“We were playing a good side and they had one very big chance to equalise, which saw our goalkeeper make a very good save.
“We were breaking with three on one situations and not getting the final pass right over three yards.
“That has to change. But in all other respects I am so happy with the players.
“It’s great to have gone second in the table for our players and supporters. It means nothing to me with so long to go, but it is recognition of how well we are playing.
“We are playing really well and on a good run. But I know from experience how quickly things can change.”
City had one great second-half chance to equalise after 66 minutes when substitute Anis Mehmeti ran onto a Tommy Conway pass only to see his low shot saved at the second attempt by Illan Meslier.
But O’Leary made fine saves to deny the lively Crysencio Summerville on three occasions, as well as Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford.
The home side looked off the pace at times and head coach Liam Manning had no complaints.
He said: “First I have to give Leeds credit for being the best side we have played, but tonight we weren’t at the level we are capable of.
“Basic things went wrong like being caught in possession. They close space extremely well all over the pitch.
“I am frustrated because I know we can be so much better. The players seemed to tense up after making errors.
“Max O’Leary has been brilliant for us all season and he was great again in keeping us in the game.
“We had a chance to put things right at half-time and the message was to start doing the simple things well. Then we concede after a few minutes and it was a tough night for us.
“We have played the top sides and Leeds were the best. I expect them to sustain a promotion challenge.
“There have been a lot of games recently due to our FA Cup run, but I am not going to use that as an excuse. We have to work extra hard to bridge the gap to the top teams.
“But in fairness this was an out of character performance and the lads are as frustrated as I am.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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