Leeds returned to second as the cat-and-mouse dynamic at the top of the Championship continues. Jack Harrison’s fourth goal of the season was enough to yield victory but on another day Marcelo Bielsa’s side – who racked up 28 shots but only six on target – could have steamrollered to victory over Sheffield Wednesday in a Yorkshire derby played at a frenetic pace from start to finish.
Leeds’ gusto simply blew Wednesday away, while a superb goalkeeping performance by Keiren Westwood kept a hungry home side at bay until midway through the second half, when Harrison applied a classy first-time finish. With four games to play, Leeds are back in the driving seat for the second automatic place, three points clear of Sheffield United though three behind the leaders, Norwich, who visit Wigan for their game in hand on Sunday.
“It is not a big difference,” Bielsa said of the breathing space generated by his side, who next host Wigan on Friday. “We have to stay focused. We needed to create a lot of chances to score the goal. Our objective now is to improve the level of efficiency, as that is important to win the games. When you are winning with only one goal difference, you have to be focused until the end.”
The pre-match buzz around Bremner Square said it all – supporters’ emotions a cocktail of confidence and fear. The facade of the South Stand has a timeline detailing Leeds’ potted history and the hope is they will have another promotion to add by the end of May. After Sheffield United were held at home by Millwall, the ball was firmly back in Leeds’ court.
Confirmation of Jake Cooper’s 95th-minute equaliser at Bramall Lane was celebrated by fans of both teams half an hour before kick-off here, though news that the Leeds captain, Liam Cooper, had pulled up with a muscle strain in the warm-up was not such a hit among the home support. Gaetano Berardi was promoted to the starting lineup and slotted into the heart of a steely but adventurous defence, with Luke Ayling and Ezgjan Alioski finding joy marauding forward. After settling in to their attacking groove, Leeds created a flurry of first-half chances, swarming forward and keeping Westwood busy.
After getting a strong left hand to Tyler Roberts’s header, the goalkeeper rushed out to deny Alioski before clawing away Harrison’s header from Ayling’s cross. Spurred on by a sellout crowd, Leeds were unrelenting. Pinball ensued in the Wednesday box when they attempted to scramble the ball to safety but Ayling’s deflected goalbound effort was hacked away by Gary Hooper. Next Westwood again denied Roberts, this time at his near post. Wednesday, too, could have led but for some heroic defending by Ayling after Hooper was played through on goal.
Leeds’ stranglehold on this encounter never wavered, with Pontus Jansson shaking his head in disbelief as another chance went begging. But then along came another, only for Tom Lees, the Wednesday captain, to prevent Patrick Bamford poking in Roberts’s low cross at the front post. Pablo Hernández, and then Alioski, sent efforts sailing over, with Wednesday punished for treating the ball like a hot potato, inviting Leeds to pile on the pressure. Bamford sent an effort dribbling wide before Leeds – at last – found a way through. After picking the ball up on the right, where he has dazzled all season, Hernández slipped a bewitching ball into the box. On hand to help it on into the corner was Harrison, whose deft touch beat Westwood.
“They look a very, very good bet to me to go up,” said Steve Bruce, the Sheffield Wednesday manager, on his 900th game in management. “The transformation with a similar group of players to what they had 12 months ago is remarkable. They look a totally different team to where they were with the same individuals. They play with a great confidence, they look fit, and they look strong. They are aggressive in their work. If they do [win promotion], they will enhance the Premier League with the support that they generate.”
