1 week ago
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A night when visiting fans had reason to lament the absence of VAR was more uncomfortable for Leeds than it should have been but still ended with Daniel Farke’s team top of the Championship.
Farke was furious to see two “goals” from first Ao Tanaka and then Patrick Bamford disallowed for imaginary offsides, but his players somehow weathered a late attacking storm from Michael Carrick’s playoff-chasing Middlesbrough to move ahead of Burnley on goal difference.
It took only two minutes for Carrick’s high defensive line to look foolhardy rather than brave as Leeds assumed a morale boosting, nerve assuaging lead.
If Junior Firpo’s initial through pass was good, Manor Solomon’s expert dodging of Anfernee Dijksteel bewildered the rest of Boro’s backline. The resultant confusion left a stretching Dan James to evade his supposed marker, Samuel Iling-Junior, and flick the resultant low, hard cross beyond Mark Travers.
The Tees had still been glistening in glorious April sunshine when the Leeds team bus pulled into the Riverside and the visiting fans waiting to greet them muttered nervously about a demoralising run of one win in the previous six games.
By now though darkness had descended as fast as the evening temperature and, menacing almost every time he touched the ball, James sensed real opportunity. As he repeatedly unwound his sprinter’s legs and the Leeds supporters sung “Dan James is on fire” to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark, Travers did well to repel another shot from the Wales winger.
Boro had registered five wins in their previous seven games but, despite enjoying plenty of possession, they struggled to test Karl Darlow, once again preferred to Illan Meslier in goal by Farke.
Tellingly, by the time Darlow picked the ball out of his net after the fall-out from a miscued corner led to Tommy Conway turning the ball home from close range, he had still to make proper save. A late linesman’s flag dictated that Conway was offside and that effort was correctly, if a little belatedly, disallowed.
In contrast, Tanaka had cause to feel wronged after directing a Solomon cross past Travers only to see his celebrations ended abruptly by another offside call. This time replays suggested it had been the wrong one and the Japan midfielder’s strike should have stood.
After viewing that little cameo on his pitchside monitor and realising Tanaka was onside after all, Farke placed his head in his heads before subjecting the fourth official to a volley of righteous indignation.
With the automatic promotion race painfully tight and almost unbearably tense, that sort of officiating mistake could ultimately mean the difference between a guaranteed Premier League place and the lottery of the playoffs.
after newsletter promotion
The latter route is the only remaining option open to Boro and is one Carrick remains desperate to take. If only he and his players could fathom out a way of concluding those hallmark pleasing passing sequences with killer final balls.
Carrick possesses some good players, the talented Hayden Hackney in particular. His ability to pass quickly with pace and urgency sporadically threatened Farke’s defence as the midfielder began bringing the best out in Delano Burgzorg, creating a couple of decent chances for the forward.
With Finn Azaz and Hackney himself also missing decent openings as Darlow was finally called to arms, Boro were far from out of it.
Farke responded with a flurry of substitutions and, with his first touch, Bamford slide the ball into the back of the net at the end of a fine counterattack involving fellow substitutes Isaac Schmidt and Wilfried Gnonto.
If Bamford thought that scoring against one of his former clubs would mark the end of almost 12 injury blighted months he was wrong as that assured finish was ruled out for offside. Once again though replays showed it was the wrong decision and Farke did not look amused.
The good news for the Leeds manager though is that Bamford looked fit and sharp. Farke believes that the loss of his No 9 to a knee injury at the Riverside almost exactly a year ago cost his team promotion but maybe, just maybe, Bamford has returned at the right moment to help Leeds over the line this time.
