Leeds United put lipstick on a pig at Watford but bring home the bacon - Graham Smyth's Verdict - YEP 10/4/22

Rodrigo and Jack Harrison's goals were lipstick on a pig of a game and yet Jesse Marsch and Leeds United brought home the bacon again.

By Graham Smyth

It's an understatement of epic proportions to say the 3-0 win at Watford was not one for the neutrals. A game that contained so little quality and so many poor phases of play did nothing to associate itself with the 'best league in the world' tag and even less to link itself with Leeds' recent history.

Since the summer of 2018 performances and entertainment have mattered greatly at Leeds, going hand in hand with results to give Whites something to be proud of and plenty to celebrate.

For the thousands in the away end though, this was a day to remember and one to enjoy. They saw three goals, each of which had a fine finish, and celebrated in the sunshine with their team as tension that has held the club in its grip for months finally began to ease.

A still image of several gentlemen, of varying ages, lying in a tangled heap amid wild goal celebrations spoke a thousand words about how much fun the visiting supporters were having and just how important the goals were.

It was a relegation battle, perhaps the most pivotal of the season so far and if it couldn't be a day for flowing football then so be it, it just had to be won.

This is where Marsch and Leeds deserve credit. No one will ever be able to say for certain if Marcelo Bielsa would have led the Whites to the necessary points to keep them in the Premier League, even if his track record should have given a fair degree of confidence in that outcome. What can be said is that Marsch, with 10 from a possible 12, is leading the Whites to safety.

Judgement on just how much of an 'evolution' will occur under his watch has to be held in suspension because the brief, quite plainly, was to keep Leeds up.

Had they lost this game, hours after Everton had beaten Manchester United, then the 16 day wait for another fixture would have represented a void into which the anguished screams of an anxious fanbase would echo.

This game would decide the mood and the level of pressure under which Leeds would play at Crystal Palace on April 25, by which time the table could have looked uglier than it has all season.

Marsch had that in mind as he prepared to face Roy Hodgson's all-but-doomed Hornets at Vicarage Road.

"With the 16-day break now it would have been really difficult to sit and watch the table because things are going to get tight."

Better a difficult-to-watch 90 minutes than 23,040 minutes spent peeking through fingers, perhaps, but in any case playing pretty football and losing, at this stage, in this game, was not an option.

Marsch's options were part of the difficulty in this game and played into its out-of-control nature.

Kalvin Phillips was not yet ready to start and Adam Forshaw had to sit out with a calf problem, meaning Robin Koch came into the midfield. The German international's passing as a centre back was impressive last season yet in the maelstrom of a scrappy midfield he was not the man to put a foot on the ball and bring order.

With Leeds seeking to go direct as often as they did, Daniel James was not the man to lead the line. Patrick Bamford is weeks away though, and Joe Gelhardt is still not match fit, so needs must.

Prior to the game Marsch disagreed with the assertion that his team had faced a lot of danger in wide areas but Watford's only hopes appeared to come from the flanks.

Ismaila Sarr got the better of Stuart Dallas and a simple pass to the byline gave Kiko Femenia time and space to cross from the right wing, Diego Llorente heading out of the six-yard box.

Raphinha tested Ben Foster with a header and Luke Ayling nodded over before it became apparent that this was not going to be a fun game.

One desperately poor passage of play from both sides ended when Koch lost the ball, Mateusz Klich was wrongly adjudged to have tripped Juraj Kucka and Imran Louza clipped the free-kick just wide.

A second free-kick, this time conceded by Ayling level with the six-yard box, wasn't far away from creeping in at the far post and the resultant corner created a scramble before an offside flag halted the mayhem.

Leeds were crying out for a moment of quality and as has been the case so often, Raphinha stepped up to provide it. What James lacks in targetman presence he partly makes up for in sheer determination and he forced the ball to Raphinha with a challenge, allowing the winger to pick a spot a fraction inside the near post from 20 yards.

As beautiful a finish as it was, it could inspire more moments like it in the first half. Leeds were indebted to Liam Cooper who mopped up time and time again as very few others on the pitch shone quite as brightly.

After the interval Leeds arguably had even less control and even the introduction of Phillips for Klich with a little over 30 minutes remaining couldn't calm things down.

The next two chances fell to Watford in fact, João Pedro turning away from Phillips to shoot over before Ismaïla Sarr was played clean through and fluffed his lines, clearing the bar.

Not for the first time this season it felt as if Leeds were surviving by the virtue of their character and the opposition's lack of ruthlessness.

Sam Greenwood came on as a substitute and made an impact, getting in amongst it up front as Leeds played for second balls and teeing up Phillips for a drive that Foster saved well.

Watford's desperation for a goal opened up chances on the counter attack and fittingly for the occasion a Watford error - Samir's bungling touch in his own area - rescued an overcooked Greenwood pass and allowed Rodrigo to kill the game dead.

It was the Spaniard's sixth goal of the season, his third in four games as Marsch's arrival continues to coincide with the forward's rejuvenation. Five of his six goals have been crucial ones and this might have been the most important of the lot.

The pressure was released, 'Leeds are staying up' was the song from the away end and they were still in full voice as Jack Harrison put a fruitless 84 minutes behind him with a bullet of a shot that gave Foster no chance.

That was that, Watford were cooked and Leeds had a belly full of goals and points.

Marsch knows it has to look so much better than this: "I will be the first to say in terms of the quality we had in the match and what we wanted it to look like, it was far from perfect."

But for him and for Leeds, the win was massive and the celebrations symbolised its scale and significance. A pig of a game has never tasted so sweet.