News desk: You’re getting sacked in the morning” rang in Sam Allardyce’s ears from delirious Manchester City fans after Ilkay Gündogan’s second goal of a victory that moves Pep Guardiola’s champions three points closer to a hat-trick of titles.

It would be fair to characterise the home display as a stroll, before what unfolded late on after Phil Foden earned a penalty. Despite Riyad Mahrez, a regular taker, and the 51-goal Erling Haaland, who is Pep Guardiola’s nominated player, both being on the field, Gündogan stepped up in an attempt to complete a hat-trick.

The Germany international missed, smacking the spot-kick off Joel Robles’s left post. Then, after a furious Guardiola could be lip-read informing Haaland: “You have to take it,” Leeds moved downfield and Rodrigo beat Ederson from inside the area.

This resulted in Haaland and Foden time-wasting by a corner flag and a wave of black-and-gold shirts attacking but City survived and seem destined to be champions again. For Allardyce, the future is bleaker: Leeds’s new head coach now has only three games remaining to avoid the drop and on this evidence he may fail.

A contest broadcast live (moved from its original Sunday slot because of City’s Champions League semi-final first leg at Real Madrid) and which broke the domestic 3pm kick-off blackout was, until the close, hardly a spectacle. Gündogan, ignored by Guardiola when substituted in added time (but later partially forgiven for having the courage to take the penalty), and Kevin De Bruyne ran a contest that featured seven City changes from Wednesday’s win against West Ham.

Allardyce made four alterations from the side Javi Gracia picked at Bournemouth, with Illan Meslier’s exclusion so that Robles could make his Premier League debut the headline one. “I didn’t expect him to be very happy but you have to make a decision,” Allardyce said of the dropped goalkeeper. “What we had watched and what the staff have been saying, I think the rest will do him a power of good.”