2nd February, 2024, EFL Championship
Well I must admit I thought that was going to be much tougher than it proved to be. The 0 – 1 scoreline hardly tells the story of another game in which Leeds pretty much dominated the whole 90 minutes. Only a few big chances missed sullied an otherwise comprehensive victory over another poor looking Championship side.
Bristol had one chance early in the game when Ethan Ampadu came to the rescue with a block tackle and another one midway through the second half when Meslier saved a weak shot with his legs but that was the sum total of the Bristol attacks that came anywhere near to worrying Leeds.
For our part it was a comfortable night although our familiar failing of not being able to finish off numerous big chances was evident for all to see once again. A Summerville solo break from halfway on 15 minutes when he stole the ball off George Tanner should have started the scoring for the night but Cree’s lob was just not high enough to beat the Robins’ keeper O’Leary stretching hands. Summerville fired another shot over the bar before Georginio intercepted a pass from Rob Dickie and sped into the area only for O'Leary to punch it over the top again. Then, on the half-hour mark, Paddy Bamford skated around the outside of the home defence to set up Georginio but his close-range effort was parried over the bar. It could have been three-nil by this time, perhaps should have been.
The goal came within two minutes of the start of the second half and was a fine piece of work from Willy Gnonto, ghosting in on the blind side of two defenders to lash the ball left-footed past O’Leary after good work by both Junior Firpo and Patrick Bamford. Willy seemed to enjoy that one!
Summerville had another big chance late in the game when he fired across the face of goal form the right hand side but his shot scurried past the far post; Willy Gnonto was perhaps better positioned to Cree’s left had Cree spotted him.
Truth be told it looked easy for Leeds and we could easily have come away with a three or four goal margin.
Perhaps the most telling comment came from the Bristol manager Liam Manning who told the BBC after the game: "I think they're the best side we've played since I came here.” For our part, Daniel Farke is clearly aware of this annoying inability to convert big chances into goals he told the BBC: “The only thing I have to criticise is our efficiency in front of the goal. It's an ongoing topic.”
That’s five Championship wins on the spin for Leeds and we are now doing what Leicester have done all season; beat the lesser teams in this division week in week out. We now sit back and see what Saints and the Tractor Boys can do this weekend in their away games – Saints at Rotherham and Ipswich at Preston. We dropped points at both of those of course…
Sky Bet Championship
Bristol City 0
Leeds United 1 (Gnonto 48’)
Bristol City: O’Leary (GK), McCrorie (Bell 72’), Pring, James (C), Williams (Gardner-Hickman 59’), Knight, Conway, Dickie, Tanner, Wells (Mehmeti 59’), Vyner. Subs not used: Bajic (GK), Cornick, King, Roberts, Knight-Lebel, Nelson.
Leeds: Meslier (GK), Firpo, Ampadu (C), Kamara (Byram 86’), Bamford, Summerville (Piroe 90’), Rodon, Gray, Rutter, Gnonto (Anthony 83’), Gruev. Subs not used: Klaesson (GK), Cresswell, Cooper, Shackleton, Gelhardt, Joseph.
Referee: Stephen Martin
Booked: Dickie (City)
Venue: Ashton Gate
Attendance: 25,429 (2,982 away)
