Leeds United's key West Ham difference — Graham Smyth's Verdict on Newcastle United classic — YEP 8/1/26

By Graham Smyth

The Verdict on a spirited performance but crushing defeat for Leeds United.

Leeds United's relegation rivals did battle in an instantly-forgettable game 24 hours before the Whites played a full part in an instant classic.

The difference between West Ham United's disappointment on Tuesday night and that felt by Leeds on Wednesday night should be night and day. Where one of those teams has been abject and sinking, the other has been fighting, punching upward and making a fist of the survival battle.

Both the Hammers and the Whites suffered late cruelty in their respective defeats to Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United, but only one of the beaten sides showed they are a problem in the Premier League and it wasn't the more established club.

Leeds lost to the odd goal in seven, conceding in the 103rd minute at St James' Park at the end of an exhausting, exhilarating thriller. And where West Ham can ill afford to take any more kicks because they've been playing and recording results like a side on the way down, Leeds can kick themselves because they could and probably should have beaten the side sitting sixth in the Premier League. They led three times. They should have gone 4-2 up at one stage. They were level with an insane 12 minutes of added time on the clock.

If the legs were at all heavy after the effort expended against Liverpool and Manchester United, it was not going to show immediately. They were bright from the off, annoying Newcastle into coughing up possession and frustrating the hosts. What's more, the return of Ethan Ampadu gave Leeds an element of bite and even control that they lacked for much of Sunday's game.

Another returnee, Joe Rodon, was back bombing down the wing again, but he and a few others were all guilty of squandering great crossing positions with overhit deliveries that let Newcastle off the hook. Despite the lack of composure, there was plenty to suggest Leeds had not simply come to defend in numbers. In fact when they had the ball and the opportunity, they poured forward in numbers. Pascal Struijk crashing the box like a number 8 gave the Magpies something different to think about.

A talented Newcastle side on home turf were always going to create danger but their first big moment came thanks in part to Leeds keeper Lucas Perri. He appeared to have a cross entirely under his control until a brush with Fabian Schar saw the ball dropped into the net. Referee Michael Salisbury saw it as a foul and VAR did not see fit to overrule.

It was Leeds who drew first blood, with a helping hand from the hapless Malick Thiaw. Though the visitors' press had been causing issues when they sensed a moment to go, the Newcastle centre-back was under no serious duress when he simply lost his footing and the ball, presenting it to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The striker's instinctive pass put Brenden Aaronson in and the midfielder did the rest, supplying his second emphatic, composed finish in as many games.

Harvey Barnes the Leeds United villain again

Just as they conceded too soon after scoring against Manchester United, Leeds left themselves open to a sucker punch. Inevitability hangs around Harvey Barnes like a bad smell when he plays against the Whites and he profited from some hesitancy in the visiting box to find an equaliser.

Newcastle hit the post and Leeds were rocking a little as the game became transition heavy. They needed a foot on the ball. They went one better and scored a goal. Ilia Gruev's free-kick was headed across the box by Jaka Bijol and Thiaw handled it. Calvert-Lewin dispatched the penalty for his eighth goal in nine and a half-time lead.

If the first half was entertaining, the second was mindblowing. Newcastle levelled with a goal of real quality, Bruno Guimarães' beautiful outside-of-the-boot cross glanced home by the head of Joelinton. St James' Park was rocking, but this time Leeds were not. They responded well to conceding and Bijol so nearly found Calvert-Lewin in front of goal.

But on a day when it was announced that Kevin Keegan was battling cancer, the men in black and white were out to do his legacy proud. They caused chaos in the Leeds area and a combination of Perri and his woodwork kept them out in a madcap couple of moments. Leeds did their bit to pay tribute to Keegan too, a flowing move taking them right and left before Gabriel Gudmundsson's wicked cross was thumped against the crossbar by the head of James Justin.

A serious injury to Fabian Schar briefly restored order as both teams caught a breather, but it was nothing more than a time out before the bell went to resume the punchfest. And Leeds landed the next big one, nicking the ball and countering through Gruev, whose pass put Aaronson in a position to drill the ball in off the far upright.

The 11 remaining minutes were always going to require desperate and resolute defending. Struijk looked up for it, clearing off his line and then blocking a shot in the six-yard box. The situation called for counter attacking menace and substitute Lukas Nmecha looked capable of it. He nicked a ball for an immediate chance yet with Noah Okafor begging for a back post tap in, the striker went himself and hit the sidenetting at the near post. It was a sliding door. Newcastle went down the other end, a cross hit Aaronson on the arm in the box and Guimaraes' penalty made it 3-3.

Ten minutes were added on and Nmecha once more pounced on a loose ball in the area but could not turn it home. That and an Okafor cross that fizzed through the six-yard box were Leeds' chances to go ahead for a fourth time. But there was something more inevitable lurking. Blue shirts cleared umpteen crosses into their area until the 103rd minute when another came in, it bobbled around and who else but Harvey turned and fired for goal. Perri dived, he even touched it but save it he could not and Newcastle won 4-3.

After the game Farke said that if a seven-game unbeaten streak was to come to an end, this was how it wanted it to happen. Going down swinging. No one wants that to become a metaphor for Leeds' season yet what they can say - what others cannot - is that they are not only up for a fight but equipped to land punches against the very best. They've just got to keep swinging.