27th November 2024. EFL Championship
Well, that was another game that proved to be much easier than I thought it would be! First impressions after the game are that Luton are a poor side and Leeds took advantage as we should. They came clearly with the intent of trying to see the game out for a draw or maybe nicking all three points with a breakaway or a set piece or maybe a stroke of luck, but Leeds are now very used to facing the low block and with our forwards we are always capable of finding an answer, which we did.
Daniel Farke now has the luxury of all of his four flying wingers being fit to play and this time he plumped for Willy Gnonto with Manor Solomon, Willy being the one change from the side we saw start at Swansea, Dan James being the unlucky one this time with Largie Ramazani still working his way back to full match-fitness again on the bench. Dan showed his class again when he came on as did Largie who, in the short time he was on, was scintillating; it’s a real dilemma as to what the most potent pairing is but what a great situation to be in to be able to bring on such talent. The bench is now as strong as I can remember.
It was a perfect start for Leeds, scoring as early as the 10th minute – just seconds before we began the Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary-Speed chant to remember it was exactly 13 years since we lost that very special player. It reminded me of that game at Forest 13 years ago when Snoddy scored just as the same chant ended; that was spooky. This time Leeds had knocked the ball to and fro at the back for a while trying to draw Luton forward looking for an opening and it was Ao Tanaka who found it, a long ball for Willy Gnonto to run onto in front of the cheese wedge. Willy waited for reinforcements and first was Ao again, following his own pass. Willy touched it back to Ao who returned it again and then Willy found Sam Byram in support. Sam poked it first time back to Willy, but he turned it back to Tanaka again and then Byram. It was patient stuff still looking for another opening in the packed Luton defence. It went back to Tanaka this time and there was the next opening, a first time ball put Manor Solomon behind the defence at pace. He pulled the ball back for Sam Byram who took one touch and then his left foot shot was blocked but it came back at knee height and he improvised with a right-foot scissor kick that found the bottom corner of the net. His footwork was worthy of a ‘10’ on Strictly! It was classic patient forward play from Leeds.
Leeds dominated the possession in the first half to the tune of 79% but there were two moments when defensively we again looked at least vulnerable if not sloppy. First, Rothwell and Tanaka were, for once, unable to hoover up the ball in midfield and it then broke to Victor Moses who was sharper and more alert than Willy Gnonto to collect. Moses then went through a Tanaka tackle – a rare event in itself this season – and played a one-two with Clarke that put Moses in the clear having parted the home fence like his namesake did to the Red Sea on the left of the box. Meslier came out but Moses clipped the ball over him. Only an acrobatic clearance on the line from Pascal Struijk saved the day.
Luton’s other few sights of goal were less clear-cut: Burke got himself space at the back post but fluffed a header and, late in the game substitute Adebayo had a one-on-one with Meslier that Illan blocked and put a header from a corner – Luton’s only corner - over the top. So, Luton did manage to get through us a few times, so, easy as this win was, we’ve been more impregnable in previous games this season.
The other improvable aspect of our play this season – apart from the odd defensive slip-up - has been our finishing and, whilst we didn’t miss any big chances last night there were half-chances that maybe we should have buried. One such fell to Brenden Aaronson who chose to try to find Willy Gnonto rather than backing himself and another was when Willy Gnonto met a low Solomon cross with his right instep from the edge of the box. He maybe should have found the corner with more power but instead gave Kaminski the chance to dive and grab it. It’s fine margins but margins that show there is still more to come from this side of ours.
It took us until added time in the first half to make the scoreline look more representative but, when it came, it was from a corner – that’s another area we are slowly improving. Rothwell sent the ball over, Pascal won the header down and Kaminski made a bit of a Horlicks of the save, palming it straight onto the toes of Joel Piroe. He smashed the ball home from close range for another ‘Jonny on the spot’, typical Piroe poacher’s goal.
There were more chances in the second half – Piroe for once not able to stab home from close range on the turn was the best of them – but it took one of our substitutions, the flying machine that is Dan James, to finally put the game to bed in the 81st minute. Jayden Bogle was the provider, looking up and spotting James on the shoulder of a defender and bending an exquisite ball into his path. Two bounces of the ball, the keeper came out, and Dan side-footed a perfect lob over him and into the net. Game, set and match.
Hence, in summary, this was as comfortable as it gets - the stats were similar to the QPR game and yet those few moments where we gave Luton a sight of goal could, on another day, have proved costly and Daniel Farke alluded to this after the game. Against QPR we gave up not a single shot on target for example. Hence there is still scope to be even tighter at the back and we can still improve the efficiency in front of goal. BUT let’s not down play another very dominant performance - 76% possession, 20 shots, 34 touches in the opposition box (just 5 for the Hatters). Another game to nil, another three points, top of the league , the best home record in the division (albeit only on goal difference from Blades and Watford) and comfortably seeing off another poor team . We have a tight squad of 14 or 15 players all of whom look at home at this level and, at this moment, it feels like we are the best in class. Rothwell and Tanaka again dominated the midfield and I can’t help thinking that the injuries to Ethan and Ilia have actually allowed us to discover their talents; in a strange way those injuries could actually be key to our season. These are good times, lets enjoy ‘em!
Sky Bet Championship
Leeds United 3 (Byram 10’, Piroe 45+1’, James 81’)
Luton Town 0
Leeds: Meslier (GK), Bogle, Struijk (C), Rodon, Rothwell (Guilavogui 84’), Piroe (Joseph 69’), Aaronson (Ramazani 84’), Solomon, Tanaka, Byram (Wöber 59’), Gnonto (James 69’). Subs not used: Darlow (GK), Bamford, Debayo, Crew.
Luton: Kaminski (GK), Bell, McGuinness, Moses (Chong 77’), Krauss, Morris (C) (Adebayo 59’), Nakamba (Baptiste 74’), Mengi, Burke (Hashioka 45’), Clark, Brown (Taylor 59’). Subs not used: Krul (GK), Woodrow, Mpanzu, Holmes.
Venue: Elland Road
Attendance: 35,340 (1,087 away)
Referee: Sam Allison
Booked: Ramazani (Leeds) Hashioka, Clark (Luton)