24th November, 2024, EFL Championship
What a game of football that was! It was the essence of why we footy fans travel the length and breadth of the country watching our teams; the joy and the despair by turns as one team and then the other grabbed the lead and then ultimately sealed a vital victory at the very end of the game just when it seemed that victory had been squandered. They do say that victory is all the more sweet when it is least expected and hardest earned.
Swansea had only conceded three league goals on their own patch this season so far so for Leeds to score four in a single game is some achievement. The downside is that the Swans have been notoriously goal shy themselves but we allowed them to score three in a game for the first time since August. So, it was a performance by Leeds much like the proverbial curate's egg; good in parts.
It didn’t begin too well, conceding from a set-piece delivery as early as the 8th minute. The ball was curled in behind our back line, no one tracked Harry Darling running through from deep and he deftly volleyed the ball home. It was the sort of sleepy, sloppy defending we’ve seen periodically from Leeds all season but thankfully we haven’t done it too often.
We know this team of ours has plenty of spirit though and with the rain pouring constantly we were back on terms inside 12 more minutes. Leeds harried and chased the ball down in midfield, Tanaka sent a lovely ball through the inside right channel for Dan James and his low cross was finished neatly at the back post by Manor Solomon for his debut Leeds goal. There were no more big chances as we moved deep into added time at the end of the half but then we appeared to go to sleep again. We allowed a runner to get away from us down the Swans right and the ball was pulled back for Liam Cullen, fresh from his two goals for Wales last week and he, slightly fortuitously, put the Swans ahead again as his mishit shot was deflected off Jayden Bogle and out of reach of the scrabbling Illan Meslier to trickle in off the left post.
Leeds looked altogether more potent in the new half and ten minutes in we were level again. This time a clever ball down the inside right channel by Bogle found the marauding Dan James again. His crossing early in the game had left a bit to be desired but this time he flashed the ball across the face of goal looking for Joel Piroe only for Cabango to slide it into his own net at the near post.
Leeds and Swansea were making a mockery of my 0 – 0 prediction – a forecast based on the logic of so few goals being scored on the Swans’ territory so far this season. The mockery continued less than twenty minutes later as Leeds grabbed the lead. Pascal Struijk clipped the ball over the Swansea back line to find Sam Byram who had beaten their offside line, despite several hands going in the air to claim he’d gone too soon. Replays showed his timing was perfect as was his low cross to find Solomon again and this time Manor lifted his shot into the roof of the net. 2 – 3 and Leeds were heading for the top of the table.
As we all know, Leeds don’t do simple very often though and somehow we contrived to make this win far more difficult than it should have been. As the game moved past 90 minutes when game management ought to have been our prime concern, we allowed the home side to burst down the left and fire the ball in towards the near post. There were plenty of Leeds bodies there but none was as quick to react as the Swans’ sub Bianchini who stabbed home from close range. That should have been it for the day but thankfully the Swans were in generous mood today and their own game management was as poor as ours! Just seconds after levelling the game they gave away possession in midfield. After the game, their manager Luke Williams told reporters that he didn’t celebrate too wildly at 3 – 3 because he’d seen his side give away too many late goals already this season and his modest joy was indeed short-lived and well-considered. Max Wober intercepted the ball, sent it down the left wing to Willy Gnonto and he cleverly turned it into the path of the overlapping Ao Tanaka. Ao pushed it inside to Dan James who quickly stabbed it through the back line where Willy Gnonto had got free and onside but behind the Swans defence and he deftly slid the ball under the keeper to win the game.
Both managers claimed afterwards that they’d seen two quality sides on show but there were clear defensive shortcomings in both camps for me. Leeds edged the statistics, although for once we didn’t boss the possession, that honour went to Swansea, something Farke had predicted would be the case when he spoke during his press conference. Perhaps the best indicator of our superiority was our 26 touches in the Swans' box compared with just 9 for them in ours. Our finishing was pretty good though and some of the passing leading to our goals was very sharp. It is hard to single any player out but Ao Tanaka was as tenacious as ever in his midfield tackling, rescuing the ball on half a dozen occasions at least. Dan James was his usual speedy self and had a hand in the build-up of all four goals and of course Manor Solomon showed he can add useful goals to his wing play. Overall, winning in Swansea is a huge feather in our cap, not many teams will do that and few if any will score four past them.
Now we have to consolidate our position at the top with another home win on Wednesday night against Luton – an erratic side but one that never gives up and will be hard to put away. As so often in this division, every game looks tough in the lead up to it and every one feels vital to win. We are in great shape but we’re only ever one poor result away from a crisis!
Sky Bet Championship
Swansea City 3 (Darling 8’, Cullen 45’, Bianchini 90’)
Leeds United 4 (Solomon 20’, 73’, Cabango og 55’, Gnonto 90’)
Swansea: Vigouroux (GK), Key, Cabango, Darling, Allen (Fulton 56’), Grimes (C), Tymon, Franco (Bianchini 75’), Cullen, Peart-Harris, Ronald (Abdulai 84’).Subs not used: McLaughlin (GK), Vipotnik, Tjoe-A-On, Christie, Naughton, Abbey.
Leeds: Meslier (GK), Bogle, Rodon, Struijk (C), Byram (Wober 84’), Tanaka, Rothwell (Guilavogui 84’), Solomon (Gnonto 75’), Aaronson, James (Debayo 90’), Piroe (Joseph 74’). Subs not used: Darlow (GK), Bamford, Ramazani, Crew.
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Booked: Peart-Harris (Swansea) James, Byram (Leeds)
Venue: swansea.com Stadium
Attendance: 17,125