Leeds United's only conclusion from trend-bucking Swansea City thriller — Graham Smyth's Verdict — YEP 25/11/24

By Graham Smyth

The road to promotion went through South Wales and though it was paved with hazards, Leeds United continued to move in the right direction.

From now until March Leeds' world is wall-to-wall Championship football with breaks only for more club action when the FA Cup interjects. International football takes a back seat until mid-March and as Daniel Farke put it, the Championship table will now make itself. Leeds set out on this 22-game slog as the league leaders, thanks to what happened in Swansea City.

Predictions on how the journey will look or where Leeds will find themselves at the end of it should be based on everything that has been seen so far this season, rather than everything seen in the 4-3 victory over the Swans. This was an outlier.

This was a game not to draw conclusions from, but joy. Sometimes, rarely admittedly, but sometimes a game comes along that is so unexpectedly wild and entertaining that it is simply to be enjoyed. This was one of those. It confounded all predictions and expectations, because Swansea do not ship many goals and nor do they score many either. Leeds do not concede many chances, let alone goals and they had not hit the net four times in a single game since last season.

February's trip to Swansea was such an occasion, when two strikes inside the opening 10 minutes left Luke Williams' men staring down the barrel. That one ended 4-0. Since then, however, he has made the Swans a totally different proposition. That much became evident as early as the eighth minute when Leeds found themselves behind.

A trio of refereeing decisions went against the visitors, including the soft free-kick that ex-Leeds man Matt Grimes curled to the back post. Harry Darling arrived unmarked and steered it past Illan Meslier. Replays showed it was Ao Tanaka who uncharacteristically fell down on his marking assignment, presenting the first bit of evidence that this might not be an ordinary Leeds afternoon.

When Leeds hit back in the 20th minute it was a much more familiar sight. Pascal Struijk split the defence with a slide rule pass and Daniel James' pace took him into the area where he could simply roll the ball into Manor Solomon to finish from a couple of yards. It was a goal of quality, quickness and optimism, on the part of Solomon, because James easily could have taken the shot on.

The Welsh winger, up against his former club, was a constant menace even when Swansea had the ball - his speed forced Darling into a foul that could so easily have been punished with a yellow card. But this was far from routine for Leeds. Swansea had more of the ball, for a start, and the sight of Leeds players having to do the chasing was, by this season's standards, an unusual one.

So too was the sight of Struijk making a mistake to cough up the ball. A forward pass left Sam Byram trailing and Swansea had a three-on-two that Liam Cullen finished off, via Jayden Bogle's boot, to beat Illan Meslier with a little too much ease.

The second half was a sight to behold. Leeds took just 10 minutes of it to level and again it was James' pace that made a big difference. Bogle played the winger into space, he raced to the area and attempted to find Joel Piroe. The pass was cut out by Ben Cabango, straight into the net.

It was an open game and neither side could claim dominance but as the half wore on, it wore visibly on the legs of players from both sides. Solomon was one of these. A particularly transition-heavy phase of play left him blowing as he attempted to get back and Farke called for Willy Gnonto to prepare himself for a swap. Before the Italian could get onto the pitch, though, Struijk swung a ball left to put Byram in a great position and he fed Solomon to make it 3-2 with a roofed-finish.

Even with the lead and Farke sending on fresh legs, Leeds never looked as comfortable or as in control as they normally do. It never felt like a normal game and as Swansea fired a pair of dangerous crosses in from the left, Leeds lived on their nerves and rode their luck a little too much. As the 90th minute ticked on, a third cross came in from that side and Florian Bianchini ran in behind Joe Rodon and ahead of Struijk to equalise. By this stage, with all predictions out the window, punters from both sides had been given their money's worth but grumbles aimed at Farke were beginning.

Prior to kick-off the reaction to Gnonto being dropped for the underwhelming Solomon was a mixture of surprise and disagreement. Though Gnonto had not been at his best by any stretch of imagination in the last few games, Solomon has not been at his best at all yet for Leeds. Farke's selection call was almost entirely justified by what the Israeli contributed, but when Gnonto popped up for the match winner and his first goal in eight, it looked a masterstroke. What's more, the move that Leeds put together showed just how good football can be when it's played simply and played well. It was fashioned down the left with some neat stuff, with Max Wober, Gnonto and Tanaka all involved before James' deft pass put Gnonto in on goal. The finish was calm. The celebrations were chaos. The match was won.

Whether it was going top of the table or coming out on top of a topsy turvy game, what it meant to Leeds was seen in the whole-squad wave they orchestrated in front of the away end. What it meant to the away end will stick with them because games like this, or the 5-4 win at Birmingham City, or the 3-2 win at Aston Villa, are impossible to forget.

This game bucked the trend for Leeds and that is why it is not one from which to derive big, scary questions or concerns. The negatives, defensive mistakes in the main, were uncharacteristic of this team. The positives, like clinical finishing, Solomon’s breakthrough and a never-say-die spirit, can only lead to good things. The overall trend is dominance, defensive solidity and chance creation. So there will not be many days like this one. And if they don't come along very often, then why overthink it? Just enjoy it. A thrilling pitstop on the long, gruelling road out of the Championship.

Maybe the only real conclusion that can be reached is that football is supposed to be fun and this game was.