ETHAN AMPADU: EVERYONE WAS FIRING — Leedsunited.com 17/5/24

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A whirlwind 90 minutes at Elland Road saw Leeds United emphatically beat Norwich City to reach next weekend’s Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final.

The Whites got off to the dream start through Ilia Gruev’s inventive free kick, before Wilfried Gnonto found the run of Joel Piroe at the back post, with the striker on hand to head past Angus Gunn to add a quickfire second.

Georginio Rutter grabbed a third before the break with a close-range finish off the underside of the bar, before Crysencio Summerville made it four in the second half.

After the match, LUTV caught up with United’s captain on the evening, Ethan Ampadu.

“It is a very happy night," said the Wales international. “We achieved the objective of getting to the Play-Off Final and we know that we are only halfway in this end of season competition, and we still have a final to play against either team who will make it very hard. For sure, we will enjoy this feeling with the fans and then prepare for Wembley. [The fans were] massive. Before the game, I don’t want to say we expected it because we know what the fans can be like when they are behind us, but we were really looking forward to tonight because we knew they were going to give us a massive push. I think that showed in our performance. We started on the front foot and they started on the front foot. The atmosphere was amazing.

“It might be a bit cliché but they were behind us and we really felt that, so maybe that was an added [help]. We are thankful for that and now they can have an enjoyable night.

“I think everyone was firing today like you saw. We were on the front foot, the front four looked like they played with enjoyment and freedom. When they are clinical and on it, they are a match for anyone. They make it difficult for a lot of opponents. They probably make our jobs a little bit easier so we are thankful to them! For us defenders getting a clean sheet, it is massive. I’d say thanks to Illan in the first half for digging me out of a bit of a hole too!”

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