Daniel Farke hails 'mature' Leeds United as they rise to occasion with 4-0 win over Ipswich Town — Yorkshire Post 23/12/23

Daniel Farke hailed Leeds United's most mature performance of the season as they swept Ipswich Town aside 4-0 at Elland Road.

By Stuart Rayner

The Tractor Boys are cemented in the automatic promotion places, 10 points ahead of the Whites going into the game.

But the gulf in class went the other way as a side Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna admiringly called "clinical" beat them with goals from Pascal Struijk, a Crysencio Summerville penalty, an own goal by former Leeds defender Leif Davis and one for Joel Piroe.

All four were scored inside 52 minutes.

"It's not possible in a football game to have a perfect performance but I would say it was probably our most mature performance of the season considering we played one of the best sides at this level and we were all over them," commented Farke.

"It was a fully deserved 4-0 win.

"First half there were two half-chances from shots from distance (one, from Conor Chaplin hit the post but Piroe and Georginio Rutter would strike Ipswich's crossbar after the break) and the second half I think their expected goals was zero. I can hardly remember when I had such a game. It was unbelievable work by my players.

"It was the second home game in a row where we didn't give away a corner.

"In all phases and all periods of the game, we were outstanding.

"In our possession we had many good spells and in our counter-attacks, we scored from a set piece.

"My feeling was in our pressing, even when we chose to stand a bit deeper, we were controlling and dominating the game even without the ball.

"It was a particularly balanced and mature performance and for me the most important thing was although after 80 minutes you're 4-0 up and you've more or less won the game we still didn't want to give any chances away and wanted to return back to the dressing room with a clean sheet. This was the most impressive aspect of the game.

"It was definitely an all-round performance and I'll be pretty happy tonight."

Although the result just ensured the status quo for the top three heading into the Christmas period it felt like a significant victory for chasers who maintained their 100 per cent record over the top two having already beaten Leicester City and Ipswich on their own grounds.

"To win three points is always priceless, this is the most important thing," stressed Farke. "This result is also good for the goal difference and for our points tally.

"If you win in such a manner against one of the best sides in this league it's good for the confidence and a big boost for the whole mood and for everything but nothing major has changed.

"It's not like we are right now we are sitting top of the table, Ipswich are still in a really good position.

"It's also important we protect our position because I expect the teams around us, like Southampton, Sunderland, West Brom to be there with many points so we have to make sure we keep going if we want to finish in the top six or even better. For that it was important to win the three points.

"When you deliver such a performance in such a spotlight game it sends a bit of a message out and it's good for the mood. But sadly it's not worth more than just the three points."

McKenna attributed his biggest defeat as a manager to Leeds' clinical finishing.

"It was a disappointing game and it didn't go how we wanted it to go," he acknowledged.

"Of course the first goal was a really important moment, we're really disappointed with how we defended the corner.

"Having said that I thought there was a crystal-clear foul in the build-up (by Struijk on Chaplin) which was unmissable, really, and so close to the referee but of course we own our bit of it as well and we didn't defend the corner well enough. That turns what was going to be a very difficult game anyway into a very, very difficult game.

"Leeds were clinical with their moments in the first half, I didn't think there was a huge disparity between the teams in the first half, to be honest. I know the feel of the game is very different according to the scoreline but I didn't think there was a huge disparity in the first half but they took their moments well and we didn't defend our moments well enough."