Roses triumph shows why Leeds United are the real deal in automatic promotion stakes - final word on win at Blackburn Rovers — Yorkshire Post 10/12/23
ARTE ET Labore is the Latin motto on the club crest of Blackburn Rovers - it translates into English as ‘by skill and labour’.
By Leon Wobschall
Those qualities served Leeds United rather well as they
chalked off this latest victory amid an increasingly compelling
four-into-two-won’t-go joust for automatic promotion, where the slightest blink
carries the danger of being magnified.
The previous weekend, all the major protagonists won in the
shape of Leeds, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton.
In the latest round of action, it looked like being plus ca
change, only for the significant event to arrive in the shape of Saints
conceding a costly equaliser in the sixth minute of added-on time at Watford.
The others stayed reassuringly on-message.
Reassuring was the word to describe Leeds at Ewood Park. The
skill came by way of a delicious killer second goal in the final quarter from
Crysencio Summerville, aided by some delightful play in the build-up from
Archie Gray.
It added onto a handsomely-executed finish in the first half
from Dan James, who scored for the third successive game.
His tally of seven goals this term is his career-best league
total in a season and 2023-24 has not even reached its half-way point.
Summerville is up to nine.
In between both goals and before, the pictures that Leeds
created weren’t as artful as they can be.
But with James and Summerville in tandem, not to mention the
prowling Joel Piroe, you always have a chance. Georginio Rutter can break codes
too, even if his finishing remains a work in progress.
He missed a 'gimmie' in the first half, but then did what he
usually does. Shrug it off quickly and he soon added another assist to his
burgeoning list after winning the ball off James Hill and teeing up James.
In the promotion stakes, it represents a serious quartet.
Even when they are not at their best, there is a threat somewhere. That's
without even mentioning Patrick Bamford or Wilfried Gnonto.
Good sides don’t have to be at their best to win, especially
at this stage of proceedings amid a December bottleneck. Leeds are a good side
and did just that.
It was further back where Daniel Farke found most to please
him.
After a chaotic afternoon seven days earlier against
Middlesbrough, which at times resembled a basketball match with some of Leeds's
defending leaving a fair bit to be desired, their labour and application was
more convincing.
This time, the excellent Joe Rodon was not on his own
against another opponent who were courageous in possession like Boro and asked
questions with their interplay, movement and rotations.
Leeds mustered not only a clean sheet, but kept Rovers to
just two shots on target, with the division’s top-scorer and November’s
Championship player-of-the-month and current top-scorer Sammie Szmodics policed
proficiently.
It is the sort of thing that Farke, who won the division’s
managerial gong last month, likes.
He admitted as much, stating: “I am especially pleased we
are allowed to travel back with a clean sheet against a really good and
dangerous side, we did not allow them to have much.”
The journey to and from Blackburn in the wind and rain will
have had its privations for the 7,000 Leeds supporters who colonised the Darwen
End, but they, like Farke, went home happy.
Promotion seasons are forged on wins in all weathers. On a
dank, rain-sodden day in East Lancashire, you roll up your sleeves and wait for
your moment.
This was textbook from Leeds. No riotous Yuletide fixture
like in 2018 between these two Roses combatants, when United memorably scored
two stoppage-time goals to win it after going behind, but satisfying all the
same.
A week earlier, Rovers received an apology following a
wrongly-awarded goal for Sheffield Wednesday in their 3-1 reverse at
Hillsborough.
Here, their supporters were also seething after Bobby Madley
was unmoved by three penalty shouts during the game.
The first came when Harry Leonard went over after nipping in
front of Pascal Struijk. There were also cries early in the second half from
the Blackburn End when United’s captain slid in to try and block Andrew Moran’s
low cross and the ball hit his arm.
Substitute Jake Garrett also went down late on under
pressure from Ethan Ampadu.
In fairness, it wasn’t the story of the game and Rovers
chief Jon-Dahl Tomasson knew the score and did not make an issue with all
three. For all of Rovers' derring-do, Illan Meslier's only real work came late
on, when he tipped over a header from substitute Arnor Sigurdsson. He was
protected well.
For Leeds, the one downer was the sight of Sam Byram coming
off with a hamstring issue early in the second half.
The good sides at the top also have the best squads. Expect
Leeds to cope.