Leeds United 4 Ipswich Town 0: Whites get warmed up for Christmas with impressive show of gluttony — Yorkshire Post 23/12/23

All the talk in the build-up to Leeds United's Christmas had been about tiredness but it was their hunger which shone through in a statement win over Ipswich Town.

By Stuart Rayner

The Whites knew any victory over the impressive early front-runners would be big, but no one could have predicted it would be as big as 4-0.

Leeds were like a jealous big brother on Christmas Day afternoon, stealing Ipswich's toy off them as they just tried to serenely play with it. Their ravenous appetite was never better showcased than in their fourth goal.

Archie Gray was brighter of mind to nip in front of Leif Davis and nick a pass meant for him and as soon as it went astray up the field, centre-forward Georginio Rutter won it back. His pass did not find Joel Piroe but the interception gave the latter a chance to pounce on the ball and find the net.

With their work done, the last 20 minutes were the footballing equivalent of a post-King's Speech snooze.

By the time they changed tune to their Daniel Farke-themed version of the Christmas No 1 it was clear Ipswich had been well and truly whammed. Leeds hit the crossbar twice.

The last match before Christmas could have gone better for them, possibly, but that would have been even greedier, manager Farke able to substitute the star players whose fatigue he is tired of being asked about with no jeopardy.

The boss gave Dan James, Glen Kamara, Djed Spence, Rutter and Piroe early darts as recompense for the Boxing Day shifts coming their way at Preston North End.

Both teams showed style at times but where it seemed to be Ipswich's sole focus, Leeds stirred in dollops of substance. The visitors had more of the first-half possession – though not by much, admittedly – Leeds did far more with it.

The Tractor Boys played a game of chicken with the Whites through a left-sided set-up similar to their own with left-back Davis – the division's leading assist-maker – playing higher up the pitch than James ideally wanted to track him when his side had the ball and alleged left winger Nathan Broadhead often dropping deeper and narrower than right-back Gray wanted to go.

But it was Leeds who came out better from it, James a constant pest and Davis turning out to be the pivotal man in a very different way to the one he would have imagined when his head hit the pillow ahead of his first professional return to the club where he started his career.

It was Leeds' attacking left-back, Spence, who helped create the opening goal.

Ipswich might argue it was referee Stephen Martin turning a blind eye on a shove from Pascal Struijk as he challenged at Conor Chaplin's back, but a lot of water passed under the bridge before the defender found the net.

Spence picked the ball up and drove upfield, swapping passes with Crysencio Summerville before his corner was cut out.

Piroe went for the header at the corner but it was actually his chest which forced a good save from Vaclav Hladky, and Struijk was quick to put away the rebound with fewer than eight minutes on the clock.

Leeds kept releasing James down the right but when Piroe did, instantly shifting on an Ethan Ampadu pass, the winger sliced his best chance off target under pressure from Cameron Burgess.

Ipswich had not long had their first shot at goal – put wide by Broadhead – when the lead was doubled.

This time it was Summerville powering down the left, picking the ball up in the inside-forward channel and putting in a difficult cross in. His feet in a tangle, Davis could only put it in to chants of "You're Leeds and you know you are," from home fans short on Christmas spirit.

Ipswich's response was swift and unsuccessful, former Barnsley man Chaplin thumping the post with a shot.

That was a warning that the job was not done, but Summerville's penalty at the end of the half was soothing to put it mildly.

Rutter – constantly dropping deep to pick passes and having just produced an excellent header defending his own area – found James, who in turn fed Summerville.

Davis wrapped his legs around and brought the man down.

It was a surprise that Summerville took the spot kick – Piroe had fooled us by holding the ball in what is becoming an increasingly common tactic – but the way he lifted it into the roof of the net more than justified it.

And Leeds did not stop there, Prioe smashing a shot off the underside of the crossbar three minutes into the second half, then going one better in the 52nd.

Rutter hit the crossbar in the 71st with a shot which nicked off former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough midfielder Massimo Luongo.

As the great annual festival of gluttony gets ready to kick off, Leeds' insatiable appetite was a joy to watch.