What Ao Tanaka did at full-time makes clear how ‘absolutely immense’ one Leeds United player was — Leeds United News 18/4/25
Dan Murphy
Leeds United registered a vital victory over Oxford United
on Friday night and Ao Tanaka’s reaction after the match spoke volumes about
one performance.
It was far from an easy evening for Leeds United, who were
back under intense pressure after Burnley and Sheffield United picked up vital
wins earlier on Good Friday.
Gary Rowett’s Oxford took the game to Leeds early on, with
Karl Darlow forced into a stretching save just six minutes in.
Daniel Farke’s side soon took control, though, and found the
crucial goal when Manor Solomon turned in Jayden Bogle’s perfect pass across
the box.
The game remained a struggle as Leeds were unable to get a
second and found themselves digging in deep late on, with Joe Rodon making
several crucial interventions.
Ao Tanaka showed his appreciation for the defender’s
performance at full-time.
Ao Tanaka hilariously applauds Joe Rodon after Leeds win
As has become customary, the whole Leeds squad and staff
went to celebrate with the travelling fans at full-time.
As they were applauding the supporters, Tanaka walked over
to Rodon and hilariously applauded right in his face with a beaming smile on
his own.
Tanaka has had emotional full-time reactions after recent
wins but there were no tears this time, just a justified appreciation for an
outstanding display, for which Rodon was named the Player of the Match.
Rodon was not only a giant at the back but great on the
ball, too, with his defence-splitting pass leading to the decisive goal.
John Newsome hails ‘immense’ Joe Rodon
After Tanaka’s applause and Solomon’s praise of Rodon,
former Leeds defender Jon Newsome hailed the Welshman’s performance as well.
He said to the BBC: “Massive plaudits for all of those
players out there. Joe Rodon, I thought was absolutely immense throughout the
game.
“Leeds have come up with the right performance. It was a bit
scary towards the end, they had the home fans against them.
“It’s a fantastic performance from start to finish, they
deserved to win the game. Bring on Monday!”