Rodri lays down a goal challenge to Man City's defenders to help ease the pressure on the attack

Rodri has laid down a challenge to Manchester City's defenders and midfielders to contribute more goals and ease the pressure on the club's star-studded attack.

The Spanish midfielder notched his first goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Leeds on Wednesday night, after City missed a string of chances in the first half at Elland Road.

Erling Haaland then added a brace in the second half to take his Premier League tally to 20 for the season. However, the 26-yer-old, believes that everyone in the side should be trying to contribute to City's goals haul.

'I think we all have to be involved in scoring goals.' he said speaking after the win.

'As you saw last season every player was involved and this year we have Erling Haaland. We need to be involved because in many games they cover Erling, Kevin and the players up front and maybe the centre-halves and midfield have to make the difference – that was the example today.'

Haaland's twentieth strike of the season saw the Norwegian break a Premier League record, by becoming the fastest player to reach that milestone. Taking just 14 games, seven less than Kevin Phillips in 1999-2000.

Despite the impressive feat, Rodri went on to say in another interview that City must take their chances we presented to them.

He said: 'It was important, these goals make the pain in the rivals in the last minute of the first half. We deserved to be on top, you have to score, that's the rule of football. We create three or four chances in the first half. But we miss and have to be focussed on scoring goals.'

The victory over Leeds saw Manchester City leapfrog Newcastle back into second place in the Premier League, still five points behind leaders Arsenal. But Rodri believes that the win shows that the side are focussed on keeping the title at the Etihad.

'We had a few chances in the first half to get the lead and that goal in the final minutes was important'. The Spaniard added.

'In the second half – in the first 10-15 minutes – we killed the game with the rhythm and intensity. This is the performance we need to get the chance to fight for the Premier League.

'We don't think much about the other teams. We don't want the gap to be big. We want to win the Premier League and we know we have the experience. There's six months to go and we have to be calm and patient and try to win every single game.'

Manchester City are back in action on New Year's Eve, when the entertain struggling Everton. They have the chance to cut the Gunners lead down to two points, with Arsenal not playing until the tea-time kick-off at Brighton.