Leeds pile more misery on West Ham with comfortable victory at Elland Road — Independent 24/10/25
First-half goals from Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon downed the Hammers.
Mark Walker
The Adam Clery Football Column
Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon scored early goals as Leeds
beat West Ham 2-1 at Elland Road to heap more misery on the Londoners.
Aaronson pounced on a rebound before Rodon headed Leeds 2-0
up inside 15 minutes and they held on for their third Premier League win of the
season after Hammers substitute Mateus Fernandes’ last-minute header cut the
deficit.
West Ham have made their worst start to a top-flight season,
with four points from their first nine matches, and after their winless league
run was extended to six games they remain in the bottom three.
Hammers head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, who replaced the
sacked Graham Potter in September, has not won any of his four games in charge,
while Leeds climbed up to 13th in the table ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.
Leeds, whose 23-game unbeaten home league run was halted by
Tottenham in their previous match at Elland Road, stormed into a third-minute
lead.
Noah Okafor’s header from Jayden Bogle’s deep cross was
parried by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and Aaronson turned home the
rebound.
Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri, recalled after a thigh injury,
saved at the second attempt from Jarrod Bowen’s sweetly struck bicycle kick,
but the home side were rewarded for their trademark high-tempo start with a
second goal in the 15th minute.
Rodon, recently praised by Leeds boss Daniel Farke for his
improved goal threat from set pieces this season, all too easily shrugged off
his marker Lucas Paqueta to head home Sean Longstaff’s corner for his second
goal of the season.
The Hammers were dealt another first-half blow when
left-back Ollie Scarles was forced off after lengthy treatment on an apparent
shoulder injury and he was replaced by Callum Wilson.
A late flag from a linesman and a protracted VAR check to
confirm Paqueta had been offside before slamming home a ricochet inside the
area, only added to the visitors’ frustrations.
Former Leeds winger Crysencio Summerville, making his first
return to Elland Road following his departure in 2024, was then booked for his
late challenge on Longstaff.
During 13 minutes of added time before the interval – Leeds
left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson also needed treatment before being replaced by
James Justin – Okafor and Bogle went close to adding the hosts’ third.
There were boos from the away end at half-time and Leeds hit
the crossbar through Aaronson’s brilliant run and deflected shot soon after the
restart.
West Ham enjoyed more possession in the second period as
Leeds began to sit deeper, but the Londoners struggled to create any clear
openings until the final minute when Fernandes guided a neat header beyond
Perri from Bowen’s cross.
