1 week Ago
The victory played out against a background of thunderous noise and a blaze of colour saw United leapfrog Burnley back to the top with both clubs on 97 points but the Whites way ahead on goal difference. If they match Burnley’s result on Saturday lunchtime Daniel Farke’s men will be crowned champions and given their last two performances they are red-hot favourites to be finish at the top of the tree. After thrashing Stoke 6-0 last time out and celebrating promotion for several days Farke had a slight concern that his men could take their eye off the ball.
He needed not to worry. From the moment the teams stepped out onto the pitch greeted by an ocean of swirling scarves, handed out by the club, Leeds were on it. Bristol soon found themselves in a white-shirted washing machine, twisted, tumbled, flipped and turned over and over.
But for some excellent saves from Max O’Leary Leeds could have easily matched, even surpassed, the six they scored against Stoke seven days earlier. The only surprise was that it took United 21 minutes to go ahead, the unmarked Ao Tanaka smartly converting Manor Solomon’s deep cross at the far post. United were unveiling some fantastic attacking football with Solomon in particular proving almost unplayable.
City were clinging on by their fingertips thanks largely to O’Leary who produced an outstanding double save to deny Junior Firpo and Willie Gnonto before Jayden Bogle struck an upright. The blitz continued and any hope the visitors had of staying in the game vanished on 54 minutes when Joel Piroe unfurled a brilliant curling long pass for Gnonto to crash home the second goal. Leeds, feeding off the cockpit of noise, were irresistible on and off the ball with the home fans serenading Farke whose use of substitutes has been one of the highlights of an outstanding campaign.
He did it again, sending on Largie Ramazani who scored with his first touch after 81 minutes, converting Fipro’s super cross from the left. To cap a memorable night Ramazani completed the scoring with virtually the last kick off the match, superbly plucking Illia Gruev’s long looping pass out of the air and driving an angled shot past O’Leary. Leeds fans were denied the chance to really celebrate promotion to the Premier League in 2020 after 16 years absence from the top table because of the Covid-19 pandemic but they made up for it this time as the players and staff embarked on a joyful lap of honour.
However the results pan out at the weekend Leeds will have an open-top bus parade in the city on Bank Holiday Monday. Farke is desperate they do it in style. “I don’t want to have the open bus parade feeling without silverware,” said the German who is on the verge of his third Championship title.
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