Dan James 'frustration' fuelled decisive Leeds United moment vs Middlesbrough as promotion message sent — YEP 10/12/24

By Kyle Newbould

Leeds United went top of the Championship and their Welsh winger was the star man against Middlesbrough.

Dan James was able to channel the frustration of a very recent missed chance to fire past Seny Dieng on Tuesday as Leeds United beat Middlesbrough 3-1.

The Welshman’s excellent form continued with another outstanding performance as Leeds went top of the Championship with all three points. It was James’ run in behind and cross that eventually saw Willy Gnonto open the scoring and after Max Wober’s own goal, he was handed the chance to restore the lead, only to see his first-time effort saved by Dieng.

But from the following move as Boro tried to play out, Sam Byram thundered into a challenge and Joel Piroe picked up the loose ball to play James in. And Leeds’ flying winger made no mistake second time round, arrowing an effort beyond Dieng and into the far corner.

That goal pulled Boro out and opened up the kind of space James thrives in, with the 27-year-old finding a pass into the onrushing Tanaka who duly set up Brenden Aaronson for a tap-in. The scoreline might have flattered Leeds a little, and their visitors had a penalty call turned away, but three points extended their home winning run to eight and pulled them into top spot.

“Yeah [it feels like a significant win],” James told Sky Sports. “Obviously, two good teams tonight, we knew it was going to be hard. They have great quality all over the pitch but for us, we just had to take our chances today. On another day, we could have got a few more but we took them at the right moments.

“To score the third one just topped it off, it just relaxed us a little bit so we could keep the ball a little more. They were on top a little bit at the end but we could just sit a little deeper and go on the counter-attack.

“I think it was probably frustration [after the one I missed] not even 30 seconds earlier. Obviously the goalkeeper saved it and I got the same chance so I just thought to smash this one and it went top corner. A big win for us tonight.

“We just have to keep going. The games are coming so fast at the minute, we just have to recover, go again and keep getting wins on the board.”

Sunderland and Burnley both kicked off 15 minutes before Leeds and both dropped points, drawing at home to Bristol City and Derby County respectively. Those results leave Leeds two points clear of Sheffield United, who play Millwall on Wednesday, and three clear of Scott Parker’s Clarets. Daniel Farke’s men now have three days to recover before they travel to Preston North End on Saturday lunchtime.

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