Leeds returned to the top of the Championship after edging past Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 at Elland Road.
Manor Solomon's early finish, which met a James Beadle error, saw Leeds take an early lead and Largie Ramazani came off the bench to double the home side's lead in the 88th minute. A deft move from Ao Tanaka rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.
The win saw Leeds return to winning ways in the Championship after consecutive draws and strengthened their automatic promotion bid, while also extending their unbeaten run to 10 games.
Leeds' control of proceedings limited Wednesday to very few clear-cut chances at Illan Meslier's under-fire goal, and the goalkeeper was not tested until the hour mark when he went down to keep out Djedei Gassama.
Despite his early error in judgment that led to Solomon's goal, Beadle managed to make a number of crucial stops to prevent the margin from widening. The Wednesday stopper kept out the rampant Daniel James with some crucial saves.
Daniel Farke's side extended their lead over Burnley and Sunderland, who drew on Friday evening, and moved back above Sheffield United, who defeated Norwich 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.
It was the perfect start for Leeds, who scored on their first real goal attempt and they had Beadle to thank for it. Wednesday's keeper mistimed his rush to claim a loose ball for Brendan Aaronson.
The 20-year-old keeper got a touch on the ball, but it rolled favorably to Solomon, who was able to take his time and pick his spot to open the scoring.
Wednesday looked to be growing in the match but failed to capitalize on their brief spell in dominance, maintaining good possession without testing Leeds.
After the break, Leeds put their foot on the accelerator, eager to claim the three points. James tested Beadle with curling efforts from the edge of the area and with dangerous balls into the box. On Wednesday it looked like they survived the attack, but eventually they succumbed to the pressure. Ramazani's persistence paid off as he bagged Leeds' second.
The home side weren't done there until deep into stoppage time, two became three when a late corner found its way into the penalty area and found Tanaka who turned the ball in to wrap up the game.
The administrators
Daniel Farke from Leeds:
To follow…
Danny Rohl from Sheffield Wednesday:
To follow…
Comments