Leeds United 0 Southampton 1: Premier League moment costs the Damned United a return to the Promised Land — Yorkshire Post 26/5/24
By Stuart Rayner
Once upon a time the Championship play-off final was a
thrill-a-minute basketball game between two sides desperate to play
top-division football but in the last decade it has increasingly become a game
of fine margins between teams desperate not to miss out on it.
Southampton will reflect that their return ticket to the
Premier League came courtesy of a moment of Premier League ruthlessness but it
was donated by a moment of Leeds United sloppiness in a 1-0 game decided in the
24th minute.
When this Damned United, when it comes to play-off football,
needed a bit of good fortune, Lady Luck refused to help those who had not
helped themselves. Dan James' late shot crashed against the crossbar.
A 1-0 defeat ensured that for the first time since 2016, the
world's most glamorous domestic football league will bypass Yorkshire. For all
the points won in the regular season, this young Leeds side had shown
themselves not quite ready yet.
When you are playing against a Premier League team – and
Southampton were by and large able to keep one together in the summer – the
slightest lapse can be ruthlessly punished in a way you often get away with in
the Championship.
So when Leeds' defensive line became a squiggle, they gave
up a lead they could not haul back.
Ethan Ampadu was lured into midfield to try to win the ball
and when he could not, Will Smallbone played Adam Armstrong into the gap – just
as he found space in the inside-left channel in the 11th minute.
Archie Gray played him onside, and Armstrong scored his
fourth goal this season against the Whites.
As Ampadu and in particular 18-year-old Gray – surpassing
his dad, Andy, as Leeds’ youngest player at Wembley – can expect to play a lot
of Premier League games, it is an important lesson for them.
Joe Rodon's misplaced pass midway through the second half
provided Samuel Edozie with another such chance but the Saints substitute is
more a Championship-quality player, and Leeds wriggled off the hook.
Italy international Willy Gnonto and Championship player of
the year Crysencio Summerville are supposed to be Premier League-quality but
when their manager, Daniel Farke, went chasing an equaliser, he decided the
chances were better without them. They too have much to learn.
Armstrong's goal was harsh on a Leeds side who started well,
but when you are playing for stakes this high – Deloitte perhaps conservatively
estimate victory in the Championship final is worth £135m – you cannot expect
charity.
After the practice run of their Elland Road semi-final,
Leeds were undaunted by an atmosphere which saw white scarves held above heads
take on blocks of red and white flags in rain leaving the pitch damper than a
prime minister at a podium.
Leeds zipped the ball around confidently on it, Gray
shooting wide in the fourth minute after Georginio Rutter won the ball, then
Gnonto shooting weakly.
Gray was prominent, helped by a Saints formation with a
winger high on either side but effectively the only wing-back, Kyle
Walker-Peters, on the other. Twice, though, his crosses cleared strikers on
their heels.
Illan Meslier made a decent save from Smallbone's
12th-minute free-kick but it was not until Armstrong's goal that Saints took a
grip of the game and Leeds seemed to shrink.
Gray miscontrolled and Crysencio Summerville over-ran the
ball Rutter forced through before they cleared their heads.
Fortunately, they did not allow Armstrong to double the lead
before the break, Meslier saving and Rodon blocking after Flynn Downes surged
from midfield.
The intent was back at the start of the second half, but not
the execution, Summerville curling wide when Gnonto burst through but had his
shot blocked, Summerville's volley charged down after good work by Rutter and
his free-kick ballooned.
Had Edozie been Armstrong, punishment would have been dealt
out in the 68th minute but his lack of a killer left Leeds in limbo a bit
longer.
Straight after Farke's final substitution left Leeds with a
front five of James, Rutter, Mateo Joseph, Jaidon Anthony and Joel Piroe, the
Welshman who missed the penalty when Wales were denied a place at the European
Championships in a shoot-out, could only smack his strike against the woodwork.
Injury was added to the insult, James finishing the game
bandaged up after a nasty clash of heads.
Alex McCarthy kept out his shot in the fifth added minute.
Leeds always said getting back to the Premier League was a
two-year mission but at the same time as cushioning the blow, parachute
payments ramp up expectation. These Whites do not have the time to gradually
learn their way to top-flight quality.
Leeds have used up one of their get out of jail (well, the
Championship) cards, they must not waste a second next season.