Good Morning. It's Wednesday 11th December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Comfortable in the end as Leeds go top
Leeds solidified their position at the Championship summit with an impressive 3-1 victory against Middlesbrough, marking their eighth consecutive home win of the season. The Whites had already lost to the Smoggies this season, a 3-0 home defeat back in August, but if Farke's side were apprehensive, they certainly didn't show it on the pitch. They were far more creative than their North Yorkshire neighbours, and used their wide men to great effect to constantly move the visitors out of position, and keep them penned in to their own half for much of the game.
There was an element of luck about Leeds opener on 14 minutes. Byram and James combined well down the right channel. As James drove the ball low and hard across the six yard area, panic set in, and Dieng's attempted clearance ricocheted off Gnonto, and into the back of the net. He could have doubled his tally late on in the first half, only for the Senegalese International to make amends with a smart save to his right.
The dynamics of the match shifted on 54 minutes when Max Wober inadvertently turned the ball into his own net following a well executed Boro corner. Despite this wobble, Leeds held firm, and retook the lead 20 minutes later with an exquisite strike from James (his fourth of the season). The Welsh International showed great poise and control to lift the ball over Dieng and find the corner.
Aaronson added the cherry on the cake with a third in stoppage time, as the visitors went aimlessly in search of an equaliser. Leeds deserved their victory over one of the Championship's most in-form teams, and have created a three point buffer between themselves and third place. Sunderland and Burnley can't stop drawing at the moment, so if the Whites can improve their away form, they could find themselves clear of the chasing pack come the new year.
Contrasting views from the Managers after Leeds win
During their post match interviews, both Managers shared contrasting views of the game with Michael Carrick rueing his side not turning the game in their favour after equalising, and Daniel Farke congratulating his side after a well deserved victory. In truth, whilst a 3-1 score-line may flatter them slightly, they were good value for the win
Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke...
I think it was a well deserved win, in the end. But I want to congratulate Middlesbrough on a really good away performance. They were positive and that makes our win a bit sweeter because we played against an excellent side. It was a really good first half, but the feeling in such a tight game was that we wasted too many chances. After such an unlikely equaliser, it is difficult to turn the tide again but that is what we did and many compliments to the players.
Middlesbrough Manager Michael Carrick...
I'm disappointed with the result, but the game was right in the balance really, second half. In some ways, it was where we wanted it. We had a really good spell and it felt like we could go on and win the game. Obviously we did loads of good things in coming back into the game and had wrestled back control after going a goal down. Over the last two games, we've played against players who've played a lot of Premier League football and our lads can take a lot of confidence from how we've gone about it.
