MANCHESTER CITY made the perfect return to Prem action against Leeds - but Pep Guardiola was left red-faced at Elland Road.

Rodri's strike in the first-half stoppage-time strike and Erling Haaland's brace secured three crucial points for the reigning champions.

Not even Pascal Struijk's goal could overshadow City's evening.

But moments after Leeds' consolation, Guardiola showed his anger by kicking a water bottle on the touchline.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he made a cleaner connection than expected and the bottle seemed to strike someone on the Leeds bench.

He reacted by putting his head into his hands and then rushing over to apologize.

And fans have been reacting to the hilarious moment on social media.

One said: "That’s an interesting take on ensuring the Leeds bench stays hydrated…"

Another chimed in with: "Oh dear who did he hit?! ."

A third added: "He can’t leave this league man ."

Overall though, Guardiola would have surely been content with what he saw after City comfortably ran out 3-1 winners.

His side mustered up 26 shots on goal and dominated the possession.

Guardiola said: "We played really well against this team in this stadium. We made a great performance in the second half when they were a bit more open.

"After the World Cup, nobody knows how we were going to react and the way Leeds were playing lately. Today, with the ball, we were brilliant.

"The relationship between Rico Lewis and Rodri was brilliant in the middle of the pitch."

And the City boss reserved special praise for Haaland, who reached 20 goals for the season after just 14 games.

Guardiola added: "He (Haaland) scored a lot of goals but he could have scored more. He helps us a lot."

Guardiola and City will be hoping to continue hunting down Arsenal when they host Everton on New Year's Eve.