'Crazy' Elland Road on 'full gas' presses Leeds United to show their best against Chelsea — Yorkshire Post 4/12/25

By Stuart Rayner

"It was a crazy night," reflected Jaka Bijol after setting Leeds United on their way to a memorable 3-1 win over world champions Chelsea.

Crazy nights are when Elland Road is at its best, and when it is, Leeds often are too.

"(It) was a little bit welcome to the Premier League, welcome to Leeds," said Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca. He was talking specifically about Estevao, the wonderkid he substituted at half-time, but it went wider.

Daniel Farke rightly broils at the use of "must-win" in December but the manager perhaps needed a victory over either Chelsea or Liverpool on Saturday to be confident of not getting his cards before Christmas.

Many Leeds fans are not totally sold on the man who took them back into the Premier League but more important was the chance to get out of the relegation zone.

So they played their part in Leeds being on “full gas”.

"I didn't have the feeling at all we were not one unit," said Farke. "Elland Road was back at its best.

"I didn't see any negative comments or any doubts apart from the guy behind my bench who wasn't happy in the first half when we had to defend a little bit after 2-0,” said Farke. "I was thinking I would love to just attack but sometimes it's Chelsea mate, we have to defend as well!"

The game was 80 seconds old when a huge roar went up. The reason? Leeds had a throw-in midway in Chelsea's half but it was the pressing wot won it which was a sign of encouragement and things to come.

"It's not always the goals that give the energy, also the tackles, it's just some pressing moments, and then Elland Road gets behind you and everything is easier," said Bijol, into the side to allow a switch to 3-5-2.

"We managed to do that from the beginning, bringing the right energy, we scored early as well. Then it's the whole game in front of you and you have to keep your head cool."

It was Bijol's head which put Leeds in front six minutes in, a powerful near-post run, prodigious leap and bullet header at a corner.

"You just have to go full gas in your zones and believe that the ball is going to come," said Bijol. "I just saw it in the net and in front of the fans, it was unbelievable."

New to the club this summer, Bijol had been brainwashed in what it means to face Chelsea and whilst the game was 100 times tamer than the 1970 FA Cup final, it was full-on by modern standards, helped by Barnsley referee Darren England. Even so, Etevao was hooked at half-time for fear of one yellow becoming two.

"We were talking the week before about what this game brings to the fans and the history of the cup (1970 FA Cup final)," said Slovenian Bijol.

"You could see it in all the tackles from the beginning, the skipper (Ethan Ampadu) and everyone. It just brought the right energy to the game and the fans behind us were even better."

But it was more than just running around like they had drunk too much of the sponsors' potion.

When Pascal Struijk fluffed a header from another corner to make it 2-0, Leeds dug in and counter-attacked cleverly. They only had 29 per cent of the ball but more shots, more on target. Oh, and more goals.

Three times Ao Tanaka messed up strikes but when Lukas Nmecha hunted the ball down, the fourth was an absolute charm.

Leeds came out more intensely for the restart yet Pedro Neto scored five minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute. The hosts kept their heads and when Noah Okafor pressed a dozing Tosin Aderaboyo and an exposed Robert Sanchez into gifting Dominic Calvert-Lewin a tap-in, the party could really start.

"It was important for everyone,” said Bijol. "I think everyone wants to give back the trust (from Farke). We never stopped believing in ourselves and what we do in training.”

That belief seemed to spring out of the half-time changes at Manchester City, when Bijol came off the bench as a third centre-back.

"It was an important moment for us," he acknowledged. "We didn't get the result we wanted (losing 3-2) but we showed we can play against everyone, also away. It brings some confidence that we did it on Wednesday.

"I think we can do better, honestly.

"I'm looking forward to what this team can show because we have a lot of quality, a lot of really good energy, and I'm sure we can do a lot of good stuff this season."

It felt like a blueprint but Bijol and Farke were reluctant to commit.

"It's just something that's worked in two games," said Bijol. "We'll see what the season brings and what he (Farke) will choose in some games."

Asked about the pressing that was such a feature of the win not least because it fuelled the fans, Farke reflected: "This is my football.

"I go mental and crazy when I don't have the ball and I want my players to do the same but there are teams with unbelievable individual quality and sometimes they bypass our pressing and push us back.

"We pressed high whenever it was possible and we were well organised and structured when it was necessary, this mix will be crucial going forward."

So do not expect this every game. But football which keeps the volume up at Elland Road seems like a risk worth taking for more nights like that.