Daniel Farke sends message to Arsenal and Chelsea after Man City beat Leeds | Football

Daniel Farke says Arsenal and Chelsea could have to see off ‘among the finest teams on the planet’ in Manchester City and ‘definitely the very best manager on the planet’ in Pep Guardiola to win the Premier League.

Man City survived a serious scare to beat Farke’s Leeds United 3-2 on the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and climb to second within the Premier League.

Phil Foden scored the quickest goal of the Premier League season to place City ahead contained in the first minute of the match.

A routine Manchester City win looked inevitable when Josko Gvardiol doubled the hosts’ lead midway through the primary half.

But Leeds, destined for a relegation scrap following their promotion to the Championship, mounted a formidable comeback and drew level due to second-half goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.

City were heading in the right direction to drop points for the second week in a row following last week’s defeat to Newcastle United but Foden rifled home an injury-time winner to send Guardiola’s side as much as second, two points above Chelsea.

Chelsea could in fact reclaim that position and move to inside three points of the Premier League summit on Sunday once they play their game in hand against early leaders Arsenal.

Manchester City won 4 successive league titles under Guardiola before only ending third last season, three points behind Arsenal and 13 adrift of Liverpool.

Man City’s inconsistent form has continued this term but Farke has warned Arsenal and Chelsea that the Guardiola’s team remain ‘among the finest on the planet’.

‘First of all congratulations to Pep and Man City,’ Farke said at his post-match press conference. ‘Today we played among the finest sides not only within the UK but on the planet.

‘They’ve been essentially the most successful team within the UK over the past decade and definitely have the very best manager on the planet.

‘Manchester City are a side stuffed with superstars and stuffed with class, and one moment of magic from Phil Foden with a terrific finish is the decisive moment for them.

‘Real heartbreak and unlucky for my players, but they need to take a number of a number of pride and a number of confidence out of it, especially the second half performance.

‘We got here here not for compliments or warm words, we got here here for points. We had the worst possible begin to this game.

‘Normally in the event you want points here you’ve gotten to win the set-pieces. I actually have to offer many compliments to my lads because we deserved something from the sport.’

Manchester City hero Phil Foden admitted the club’s early title bid has not been ‘straightforward’ but hopes they will ‘kick on’ after the dramatic Leeds win.

‘It’s up there as one in all the wildest games,’ Foden said. ‘We had full control in the primary half. They modified their system within the second half and we couldn’t get going.

‘It was a frustrating half. But when there was a brief break the manager got us together and we adapted to their formation.

‘We had just a few half probabilities and at last I’ve found a little bit of space and located the underside of the web. There are still things we are able to improve. We’re delighted with the result.

‘The title race is rarely straightforward. There’s all the time ups and downs and periods where you possibly can’t appear to get going and we’ve had that.

‘The idea and togetherness got here through at the top. Hopefully that’s the case today that we are able to kick on from here. But you never know what to anticipate.’

Guardiola, meanwhile, admitted he could be an intrigued viewer when Arsenal travel to Chelsea on Sunday.

The Gunners, in search of their first league title since 2004, have only lost once this season – satirically to fallen Premier League champions Liverpool – conceding just six goals in 12 games.

‘I used to be relieved when he scored within the last minute and the opposite [thought is] that he’s an enormous character,’ Guardiola said. ‘I used to be relieved, yes.

‘The sport was not within the  perfect place in the primary half, however it ought to be over for the possibilities we now have and we didn’t concede.

‘To get the three points and after two defeats its massively essential for our mood. It’s essential to go second and we’ll see tomorrow what happens at Arsenal and Chelsea.

‘But it surely’s essential to be as near the highest as possible and to attempt to the top.’

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