Leeds United 1 Fulham 0: Lukas Nmecha leaves it late to give Whites their just reward — Yorkshire Post 17/1/26

By Stuart Rayner

What went around came around at Elland Road on Saturday as Leeds United did to Fulham what the Cottagers did to them in September.

Fulham won that game 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal.; this time it was Lukas Nmecha who left it late for the team in white.

Unlike in the reverse fixture, Leeds could this time feel that justice was done over the course of 90-plus minutes.

Leeds came into the game off the back of five draws in eight Premier League games.

Some of those were good results, some of those excellent, but 0-0 at home to Fulham felt like a wasted opportunity, particularly in light of how Leeds played.

Where Daniel Farke made substitutions to try to win the game, Fulham's players plodded off as slowly as possible when Marco Silva made 88th-minute alterations.

It looked like his efforts were going to be in vain until Nmecha stretched to volley in an Ethan Ampadu cross just as the fourth official was signalling a minimum of four added minutes.

But the torture they put their fans through for a 1-0 win explains why even after signing Facundo Buonanotte - an unused substitute here - Farke is looking for more attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window with Wolverhampton Wanderers' Jorgan Strand Larsen believed to be top of his list.

The first half was fairly cagey and even, with a tactical battle on Leeds' right-hand side.

When Fulham had the ball they pushed left-back Antonee Robinson as far forward as he could get, giving Jayden Bogle a decision to make about when to attack.

Raul Jimenez headed Harry Wilson's corner wide after eight minutes, then put a weak shot at Karl Darlow, preferred in goal to Lucas Perri after some sloppy Premier League performances from the Brazilian.

But a hamstring injury to Jaka Bijol – in addition to Anton Stach's adductor problem – put James Justin in the Leeds back three, and he pushed forward to make Robinson think again, especially with Brenden Aaronson peeling out to that side at times. Ilia Gruev or Ampadu dropped deep to keep the back three intact.

It allowed Leeds to get on top.

Justin found himself in the centre-forward position when Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed the ball to him but could not force a shot through, and Noah Okafor blazed the lose ball off target.

Okafor had curled an early shot at Bernd Leno and put a cross through the goalkeeper's hands, then Aaronson ballooned an attempted lob when played clean through by Bogle.

Sasa Lukic, Timothy Castagne and manager Silva were booked with a matter of minutes as Fulham frustration boiled over.

Wilson chipped a lovely ball to Lukic but he headed at Darlow with Gruev tracking him all the way to apply pressure.

Aaronson charged down a Ryan Sessegnon volley at a corner, and the winger blazed another before Leeds could get the ball clear.

At the other end, Bogle was eased out as he chased an Aaronson through-ball and Joe Rodon climbed highest a a corner but headed wide.

Wilson – booed by the home fans after he did not complete a move on the last transfer deadline day – got Elland Road's collective blood pumping early in the second half. Given an opportunity to hoof the ball clear as Leeds broke from a set piece, Gruev instead delayed and played a measured pass to Gabriel Gudmundsson. Wilson cynically brought the wing-back down but too wide for his yellow card to be anything more serious.

Still, it pumped the crowd up further and a couple of minutes later some were breifly celebrating a Calvert-Lewin goal until they realised he had flicked Aaronson's ball in wide.

In the 63rd minute a clever Okafor reverse pass played Gudmundsson into an excellent attacking position only for the Swede to completely slice his cross and beat the turf in frustration.

Justin shot at the keeper after exchanging passes with Ampadu, and at the other end former Huddersfield Town loanee Emile Smith Rowe could not take advantage of Darlow going AWOL.

Struijk had a shot smothered and a header over either side of a substitution which saw the recently-introduced Willy Gnonto switched to wing-back and Lukas Nmecha sent on to partner Calvert-Lewin as Leeds went for it.

Calvert-Lewin had shot at Leno shortly before the change, and flicked his header from Justin's 90th-minute corner into the side netting but just as a draw began to look inevitable, Leeds released Ampadu wide on the right after some scrappy play from both sides.

The Welshman's cross was behind Nmecha, but he volleyed in all the same.

Nmecha could have added a second a couple of minutes later, only for Leno to produce a good save.

At that point it looked as if Leeds were going to open up a 10-point gap to the relegation zone, only for West Ham United's Callum Wilson to win London’s El Sackico game at Tottenham Hotspur.

It was far from comfortable, but the job is being done.