Leeds United 2 Millwall 0: Whites go top of the Championship - but only after building the tension — Yorkshire Post 17/3/24

It took nearly 80 minutes of domination before Elland Road could finally sing the song it has been yearning to all season.

By Stuart Rayner

“We're Leeds United, we're top of the league!" they sang for the first time since Marcelo Bielsa brought them into the Premier League as the latest man in the home dugout, Daniel Farke, punched the air with delight.

The goalscorer, Dan James, sucked his thumb to hint at the sub-plot – him becoming a father days earlier.

No wonder Sky Sports love to put Leeds United on the television – they know how to create a bit of tension.

Even the goal that sealed top spot was a cliff hanger.

Having banged away at the door repeatedly with only Willy Gnonto's excellent strike to show for it, Leeds were just starting to drop hints that they might be vulnerable to a sucker punch when Georginio Rutter played a pass that demanded James, in acre of space, score.

But with Joe Byran leaping in front of him, a winger who would once have lashed at the ball paused, looked for a spot, waited for one to open up when he could not see it, and played the ball through it.

The game was like Leeds' whole season – you always felt they were going to do it, but they made sure they kept you guessing.

With Leicester City occupied elsewhere in the FA Cup, all the Whites needed to do to go top of the Championship was to win by two goals at Elland Road, where they have not been beaten, against a Millwall side whose form has picked up since they changed manager, but seemed to be interested in nothing more than spoiling.

If only it were that simple.

Leeds bossed the game as comprehensively as Millwall's aggression allowed, but when they play like that they have a habit of keeping you guessing.

Sliding towards relegation, Millwall turned to Neil Harris to restore some of their identity.

He has certainly done that.

The Lions were their usual disruptive self in Leeds, whether it be their fans interrupting a local choir in the city's bus station, or their players doing everything they could to break the home team's flow.

It needed a strong referee. It got Stephen Martin.

Jake Cooper was booked in the 18th minute when he sat on Gnonto near the corner flag, something the winger reacted badly to. With the linesman, like the referee, seemingly following the ball oblivious to what was going on yards away from him, Martin flashed two yellow cards.

Perhaps sensing it was his day, Cooper caught Rutter in the face and kneed Joe Rodon high in the rib cage without punishment. As Rodon went down holding his face, Millwall counter-attacked and won a corner.

With Rutter in particular subjected to limpet-like attention and Zian Flemming booked for a nasty tackle on Archie Gray, it made it hard for the Whites to build a rhythm but with 75 per cent possession they were still able to be comfortably the better side, and to open the scoring.

A Japhet Tanganga tackle denied Crysencio Summerville in the sixth minute and when the winger's cross was cut out, Patrick Bamford id well to retrieve Ethan Ampadu's header from the corner but could only find the roof of the net.

Gnonto produced a weak shot when he, Rutter and Summerville were all on the left, and a Summerville effort deflected into the side netting after a cut reverse ball from Glen Kamara.

Gnonto was one of those responsible for Leeds making a hash of a 33rd minute chance presented to them when Bamford caught former Rotherham United loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy in possession but his pass forced Gnonto too far wide, the cross was poor and Rutter ballooned his shot when the ball was cleared.

But all was forgiven seconds later when Rutter picked Gnonto out to cut in on his left foot and rifle a magnificent shot.

Matija Sarkic flapped away a deflected Junior Firpo pull-back and made a good save when a corner was worked to Summerville to keep the half-time damage at 1-0.

The second half followed the same pattern but as long as the scoreline was unchanged, the nervier it got.

Summerville curled a free-kick straight at Matija Sarkic, Rodon headed a free-kick over with a deflection.

Firpo's pull-back presented Rutter with a chance as good as James' but he allowed Sarkic to save, then tip the follow-up from a tight angle onto a post.

With George Saville's shot blocked by Rodon at a 68th-minute corner and Cooper heading the rebound wide, then Illan Meslier saving from Michael Obafemi at a 72nd-minute corner and shooting over three minutes after that, things started to get a bit jittery.

You could see the relief in Farke when substitute James netted, and hear it in the fans who included Luke Ayling, out on loan at Middlesbrough until the end of his contract.

There could yet have been a sting in the tail, Meslier doing brilliantly to keep out an 83rd-minute header from Ryan Longman, on loan from Hull City, and James curling a shot onto the upright in stoppage time.

But Leeds did enough and only enough. Anything more would be boring.