How Leeds demolished shell-shocked Newcastle to go third in Premier League table — Independent 14/9/26
Leeds United 4-1 Newcastle United: A dominant performance from Daniel Farke’s side saw them extend their unbeaten Premier League start
Mark Walker
Leeds United maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier
League campaign and moved up to third place following a convincing 4-1 victory
against Newcastle United at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke’s side struck twice in two minutes during the
opening half via a Lewis Miley own goal and a Jayden Bogle finish, before
Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a third prior to the break.
The dominance continued after the restart, with Noah Okafor
adding a fourth to extend the advantage before substitute Bazoumana Toure
managed a late consolation for the visitors.
Earlier, Newcastle survived initial pressure when appeals
for a Leeds penalty were turned down after the ball appeared to hit debutant
Matias Fernandes-Pardo’s arm on the edge of the area.
Visiting goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek subsequently made a low
save to deny Bogle’s hooked effort, shortly before Newcastle boss Matthias
Jaissle was compelled to make an early substitution.
Summer signing Nico Gonzalez had needed treatment after
being struck in the face by the ball in the opening exchanges and he was
replaced by Sean Steur in the 20th minute.
Leeds continued to threaten and soon after Hornicek had
punched clear Bogle’s dipping volley, they struck twice in as many minutes to
take control.
Their opener came in fortuitous circumstances. Okafor cut in
from the left and teed up Ao Tanaka, whose shot from the edge of the box took a
double deflection – off Steur and then Lewis Miley – before spinning into the
top corner.
There was nothing lucky about the home side’s second though
after Steur’s misplaced pass out from the back had been pounced on by Bogle.
James Justin’s right-wing cross was met by Calvert-Lewin’s
towering goal-bound header, which struck Bogle on the head before flying into
the bottom corner.
Hornicek denied Leeds a third when he kept out close-range
shots from Gabriel Gudmundsson and Calvert-Lewin in quick succession, but
Newcastle fell 3-0 behind in first-half stoppage time.
Gudmundsson picked out Calvert-Lewin in the box and the
striker side-stepped Sven Botman’s challenge to fire home a low finish inside
the far post.
Leeds were unrelenting at the start of the second period and
Anton Stach squandered a golden chance after intercepting Botman’s pass.
But after a non-plussed Jaissle sent on Joe Willock, Tino
Livramento and Toure for Fernandes-Pardo, Amar Dedic and Jacob Murphy, Leeds
added a fourth goal in the 59th minute.
Ethan Ampadu, celebrating his 26th birthday, swung a long
throw into the box and Botman’s headed clearance was thumped inside the far
post by Okafor on the half-volley.
Newcastle had not troubled home goalkeeper James Trafford
throughout and a rare shot on target from Toure in the 89th minute was scant
consolation for them as they slumped to a first defeat against Leeds in seven
matches.
