Leeds United 4 Birmingham City 0: Clinical United are quick to dissect woeful foe
Yorkshire Post 21/10/13
by Richard Sutcliffe at Elland Road
A FOUR-WEEK period that surely offers Leeds United a golden opportunity to get their season back on track began in encouraging fashion yesterday as Brian McDermott’s side rediscovered their scoring touch.
A comprehensive victory over Birmingham City – achieved courtesy of Matt Smith’s double plus predatory strikes by Ross McCormack and Rodolph Austin – brought the smiles back to Elland Road after a chastening period.
Five defeats in the previous seven games had left McDermott pleading in Saturday’s Yorkshire Post for more time to get things right.
However, any negativity that had been building amid the poor run of results that preceded the recent international break was swept away in style by the rampant hosts.
Birmingham were, admittedly, wretched in the first half, but the clinical manner in which McDermott’s side preyed on the visitors’ defensive shortcomings was sufficiently impressive to send the United fans in the 21,301 crowd home in optimistic mood.
Not only did those supporters witness Leeds scoring more than twice in a league game under McDermott for the first time, but the four-goal winning margin was also the most convincing since Nottingham Forest were beaten by the same scoreline at the City Ground almost two years ago.
No wonder, therefore, that the home side left the field at both the interval and full-time to a standing ovation.
The hope now for those appreciative Leeds fans is that their side can take the momentum of such a dominant display into next week’s eagerly-awaited derby against Huddersfield Town, who will be without talisman striker James Vaughan through suspension.
After that, Leeds host bottom club Yeovil Town and visit struggling Charlton Athletic before the Championship takes another breather for the third international break of the campaign.
A decent points return from that trio of fixtures to add to yesterday’s triumph and, suddenly, things would look very different for the Yorkshire club.
As it is, United sit ninth in the table this morning and are five points adrift of the play-off places. Considering how below par Leeds’s performances invariably were between the first and second international breaks of the season, such a lofty standing may seem a rather fortunate one.
What is clear, however, is just how much of a marker McDermott’s side laid down in dispatching Birmingham in such a ruthless manner.
Lining up with a 3-5-2 formation for the first time this season, the hosts were a revelation.
Gone were the often leaden-footed offerings of the previous six weeks to be replaced by a brand of passing football played at a tempo so swift that Lee Clark’s Blues simply could not cope.
Both Sam Byram and Stephen Warnock, operating as wing-backs, played a key role in this dominance by providing the width Leeds have lacked for much of the season, while Luke Murphy, Alex Mowatt and captain Austin controlled the centre of the field admirably.
This dominance allowed United to take an early hold on proceedings and they should have taken the lead long before McCormack opened the scoring on 18 minutes.
First, McCormack could only find the legs of goalkeeper Darren Randolph when played clear by a blunder from the hapless Dan Burn.
Then, Jason Pearce headed over from close range when it seemed easier to hit the target before Birmingham’s third let-off in quick succession came as Randolph again blocked an attempt from McCormack.
Considering how hard goals had been to come by for United this season – just 10 in 11 league outings before yesterday – such profligacy could have proved costly.
Instead, Leeds’s dominance finally paid off when McCormack fired into an empty net following an almighty mix-up between Randolph and Burn.
United doubled their advantage 15 minutes later and this time McCormack turned provider by curling over an exquisite cross for Austin who, after initially spraying the ball out wide to the Scot on the left, raced 40 yards before heading past Randolph.
Birmingham, whose only effort of note in the first half had come when Chris Burke fired wide following a rare mistake by Mowatt, were by now displaying all the signs of a team who knew the afternoon was going to end badly.
So, when Leeds added a third on the stroke of half-time there was little surprise that McCormack was again involved.
The ever-threatening Scot’s first-time shot was blocked by Randolph only for Smith to guide in the rebound.
Damage limitation was then the order of the day for Lee Clark, who before yesterday had never lost at Elland Road in three visits as a manager.
He introduced Andrew Shinnie and Nikola Zigic, so often the scourge of Leeds in the past, from the bench during the interval in the hope that the Blues could regain some semblance of pride.
They did, even if a much improved second-half display was not enough to bring what would have been a deserved goal.
David Murphy went closest to denying Leeds only their third clean sheet of the season with a curled free-kick that struck a post, and Chris Burke was left similarly frustrated when his looping effort was cleared off the line by Tom Lees.
Paddy Kenny also had to save smartly from Burke and Zigic, while at the other end the chances continued to flow as Austin saw his shot saved smartly by Randolph.
The Birmingham goalkeeper also kept out Smith with a smart stop, but the tall striker would not be denied.
His bullet header brought his second goal of the game to cap a fine afternoon for both himself and United.
by Richard Sutcliffe at Elland Road
A FOUR-WEEK period that surely offers Leeds United a golden opportunity to get their season back on track began in encouraging fashion yesterday as Brian McDermott’s side rediscovered their scoring touch.
A comprehensive victory over Birmingham City – achieved courtesy of Matt Smith’s double plus predatory strikes by Ross McCormack and Rodolph Austin – brought the smiles back to Elland Road after a chastening period.
Five defeats in the previous seven games had left McDermott pleading in Saturday’s Yorkshire Post for more time to get things right.
However, any negativity that had been building amid the poor run of results that preceded the recent international break was swept away in style by the rampant hosts.
Birmingham were, admittedly, wretched in the first half, but the clinical manner in which McDermott’s side preyed on the visitors’ defensive shortcomings was sufficiently impressive to send the United fans in the 21,301 crowd home in optimistic mood.
Not only did those supporters witness Leeds scoring more than twice in a league game under McDermott for the first time, but the four-goal winning margin was also the most convincing since Nottingham Forest were beaten by the same scoreline at the City Ground almost two years ago.
No wonder, therefore, that the home side left the field at both the interval and full-time to a standing ovation.
The hope now for those appreciative Leeds fans is that their side can take the momentum of such a dominant display into next week’s eagerly-awaited derby against Huddersfield Town, who will be without talisman striker James Vaughan through suspension.
After that, Leeds host bottom club Yeovil Town and visit struggling Charlton Athletic before the Championship takes another breather for the third international break of the campaign.
A decent points return from that trio of fixtures to add to yesterday’s triumph and, suddenly, things would look very different for the Yorkshire club.
As it is, United sit ninth in the table this morning and are five points adrift of the play-off places. Considering how below par Leeds’s performances invariably were between the first and second international breaks of the season, such a lofty standing may seem a rather fortunate one.
What is clear, however, is just how much of a marker McDermott’s side laid down in dispatching Birmingham in such a ruthless manner.
Lining up with a 3-5-2 formation for the first time this season, the hosts were a revelation.
Gone were the often leaden-footed offerings of the previous six weeks to be replaced by a brand of passing football played at a tempo so swift that Lee Clark’s Blues simply could not cope.
Both Sam Byram and Stephen Warnock, operating as wing-backs, played a key role in this dominance by providing the width Leeds have lacked for much of the season, while Luke Murphy, Alex Mowatt and captain Austin controlled the centre of the field admirably.
This dominance allowed United to take an early hold on proceedings and they should have taken the lead long before McCormack opened the scoring on 18 minutes.
First, McCormack could only find the legs of goalkeeper Darren Randolph when played clear by a blunder from the hapless Dan Burn.
Then, Jason Pearce headed over from close range when it seemed easier to hit the target before Birmingham’s third let-off in quick succession came as Randolph again blocked an attempt from McCormack.
Considering how hard goals had been to come by for United this season – just 10 in 11 league outings before yesterday – such profligacy could have proved costly.
Instead, Leeds’s dominance finally paid off when McCormack fired into an empty net following an almighty mix-up between Randolph and Burn.
United doubled their advantage 15 minutes later and this time McCormack turned provider by curling over an exquisite cross for Austin who, after initially spraying the ball out wide to the Scot on the left, raced 40 yards before heading past Randolph.
Birmingham, whose only effort of note in the first half had come when Chris Burke fired wide following a rare mistake by Mowatt, were by now displaying all the signs of a team who knew the afternoon was going to end badly.
So, when Leeds added a third on the stroke of half-time there was little surprise that McCormack was again involved.
The ever-threatening Scot’s first-time shot was blocked by Randolph only for Smith to guide in the rebound.
Damage limitation was then the order of the day for Lee Clark, who before yesterday had never lost at Elland Road in three visits as a manager.
He introduced Andrew Shinnie and Nikola Zigic, so often the scourge of Leeds in the past, from the bench during the interval in the hope that the Blues could regain some semblance of pride.
They did, even if a much improved second-half display was not enough to bring what would have been a deserved goal.
David Murphy went closest to denying Leeds only their third clean sheet of the season with a curled free-kick that struck a post, and Chris Burke was left similarly frustrated when his looping effort was cleared off the line by Tom Lees.
Paddy Kenny also had to save smartly from Burke and Zigic, while at the other end the chances continued to flow as Austin saw his shot saved smartly by Randolph.
The Birmingham goalkeeper also kept out Smith with a smart stop, but the tall striker would not be denied.
His bullet header brought his second goal of the game to cap a fine afternoon for both himself and United.