Nat
Ullevaal Stadion
(Oslo)
(Oslo)
-Emeran
67 Hugill 81
Ayling and Savage captained
their respective sides in the second-half. Drameh, the only
starting player to re-emerge after the interval, switched to
left-back.
Nat
LNER Community
Stadium
(York City)
Stadium
(York City)
-Ben
Yedder 60p
Volland 78
Volland 78
•●Ben Yedder 60
Ayling, Bamford (Leeds) and
Ben Yedder (Monaco) were replacement captains as the previous
incumbents were substituted. The many changes also led to
Struijk moving to left centre-back for the second-half. Les
Monégasques had to play with ten men briefly when Aguilar was
led away nursing a shoulder injury in the 70th minute; Magassa
belatedly replacing him when the play was paused for a Leeds
free-kick.
Nat
Pirelli Stadium
(Burton Albion)
(Burton Albion)
-Bamford
66 Poveda 85
At half-time, Shackleton
moved to right-back with Gray on at defensive midfield. Poveda
was initially a direct replacement for Sinisterra on the wing
but moved inside when a clutch of substitutions were made
immediately after the opening goal, Gnonto taking over on the
right. Goalscorer Bamford took the captain's armband before
realising that he was following Cooper off the pitch at this
juncture, Struijk ultimately assuming the honour. Forest named
Scott McKenna in their starting line-up but he succumbed to
illness in the warm-up. His replacement, Freuler, was then one
of only three players in red to be given the whole ninety
minutes. Another of these, Williams, swapped wings to
accommodate Aurier in the 62nd minute - one of six incoming subs
that saw a switch to 4-3-3. The midfield was now
Scarpa/Freuler/Aguilera, while Hwang went to the right with
Chris Wood as centre-forward.
-Ayling
38
Leeds' substitutions were
like-for-like save for the minor adjustment of Struijk to left
centre-back when Cresswell replaced Cooper. In contrast, Hearts
seemed to reshuffle to more of a 4-2-3-1 when they went to their
bench for the first time. Possibly this was to encourage
Shankland to stay high as he had often been dropping deep to
this point. Cochrane came on in central midfield leading to
Niewenhof pushing further forward and Forrest moving out to the
right. The only goal was reported as a Kent own goal in some
quarters, the Jambos' new defensive signing having
unsuccessfully attempted to clear Ayling's shot off the line. A
hamstring injury forced Bamford off (in the same break of play
in which the hosts brought on Halliday) shortly after he had
inherited the captain's armband which accompanied him to the
dressing room. So United did not visibly have a leader on the
pitch for the closing minutes, though likely it would have been
Struijk. Numerologists will have noted that Hearts named two
number 12s among their subs though as this included an unused
goalkeeper, no confusion was likely to accrue. Meanwhile
Cresswell was allocated the number 5 shirt, having worn his old
squad number of 35 in previous pre-season games.
-Cooper 49
Summerville 90+5
Bowler 23 Ugbo 39
Summerville 90+5
Bowler 23 Ugbo 39
The first meaningful viewing
of Farkeball saw the expected 4-2-3-1 with an overlapping Ayling
and an underlapping Hjelde turning it into almost a 2-2-5-1 with
Leeds dominating possession. The fluidity of the attacking
quartet was most evidenced by Gnonto and Summerville switching
positions, including for a period coinciding with Cardiff's
opening goal when the Italian international was covering for his
limping colleague. It may also have contributed to United being
so open on their right flank in that moment. Inexplicably
turning round two goals down, as per January's cup-tie against
the Bluebirds, the second half became almost total attack
against defence. Substitutions modified the home side's
spearhead to Gelhardt supported by (R-L) Poveda, Summerville and
Sinisterra. The final dramatic push was to go 4-1-4-1 with
Gelhardt outside Poveda on the right and Perkins up top. For
Cardiff, Méïté played on the right meaning that Bowler switched
wings. Meanwhile Ramsey and Wintle were replacement captains
after Ralls was forced off early. His opposite number, Liam
Cooper, suffered a serious foot injury in the act of scoring and
a stretcher had to be called for. New timekeeping regulations
would have meant the referee adding on over two minutes for that
delay alone before play resumed with Leeds temporarily
short-handed. Until Cresswell came on, Ampadu filled in at the
back. Some time later an armband was found to confirm Ayling as
the acting captain.
-Gelhardt 52 Struijk
58
Perry 28
Perry 28
A goal down at half-time,
Daniel Farke opted to use two of his subs and restore the
defensive midfield partnership of Gray and Ampadu. Their
first-half positions were filled by Poveda and the incoming
Struijk respectively, with Shackleton moving to right-wing. Late
on Sinisterra came on in the hole (then became the most advanced
attacker when Gelhardt went off), Drameh was unusually deployed
at left-wing and Bate had a brief cameo as an attacking
midfielder. For the visitors, Udoh replaced Bowman before the
restart after the winning goal with Flanagan taking over as the
Shrews' captain. The comeback win was overshadowed somewhat when
Farke revealed that Gnonto was not injured or rested, simply
"unavailable".
-Jutkiewicz
90+1p
•●Jutkiewicz 90+1
Nothing confirms you are
back in the Championship better than losing to a late penalty at
Birmingham after an abysmal game of football. The home fans at
least had the presence of new investor and NFL legend, Tom
Brady, to remember the day by. For the Leeds diehards, there was
only frustration at the absence of Gnonto and Sinisterra and the
amount of work left to be done on the post-relegation squad
rebuild. To emphasise the fact, the bench was a player light
even with two reserve goalkeepers in the travelling party.
Meanwhile Joe Rodon was thrown on in injury-time for a debut as
an emergency centre-forward.
-Ayling 72
Thomas-Asante 52
Thomas-Asante 52
Leeds' numbers were even
more depleted than against Birmingham with the loss of Hjelde
(concussion) and Poveda (adductor strain) and only Greenwood
returning to the squad. West Brom took the lead when Molumby's
strike was deflected past Meslier by the hand of Thomas-Asante;
the questionable legality of the final touch making it
surprising that the goal was taken off the Irish midfielder, who
celebrated effusively including cupping his ears to the South
Stand. Albion protected their lead by withdrawing Wallace into
more of a midfield role. At 1-1 they were still 5-4-1 but with
Wallace or Sarmiento pushing forward to press, depending on
which side the ball was. With their final substitutions, they
changed to 4-2-3-1 with Chalobah to the right of Molumby in
midfield, and Gardner-Hickman between Phillips and Sarmiento in
the three behind Maja. The positional switch for Phillips meant
that Townsend, now wearing the captain's armband, went to
left-back.
-Rutter 10 Gnonto 14
Piroe 19 Sinisterra 75
Rodon 7og
Broadhead 45+7
Chaplin 90+7
Piroe 19 Sinisterra 75
Rodon 7og
Broadhead 45+7
Chaplin 90+7
A goal apiece for Leeds'
front four including firsts for Rutter and debutant Piroe, with
Gnonto and Sinisterra also on target to mark their
re-integration into the side. Surprisingly Piroe was generally
more withdrawn than Rutter, although they combined in the press
to give the 4-4-2 shape that was widely reported. The
injury-time substitutions were reversed in that Cresswell was
really the replacement for Ayling at right-back with Gyabi
slotting into Piroe's No.10 position. Struijk assumed the
captaincy at this point. Ipswich used their changes to reshuffle
their attacking midfield line, firstly to
Burns/Hutchinson/Chaplin and then to Hutchinson/Harness/Chaplin.
-LOST
ON PENS 8-9
Struijk 76
Smith 34
Struijk 76
Smith 34
At half-time Salford moved
the pacy Bolton to right-back to mark Gnonto, with McLennan
taking over at right midfield. Bolton later took on a third
position, going to left-back when Garbutt went off. Ashley was
now the other full-back with Lund brought on to play behind the
strikers.
Struijk was captain when
Ayling went off. For Wednesday, Iorfa was brought on at right
wing-back with Paterson pushing forward into the space that
Gregory had been occupying.
-Piroe 15, 77 Rutter
81
Summerville and Gnonto
swapped wings for the last quarter hour of the first-half. Near
the end of the game it looked like there was a slight shift to
4-1-4-1. Certainly Gruev seemed to be signalling 'one behind
two' to Ampadu as he came on for his debut, though it hardly
mattered by this stage.
1■■Rodon 60
Put notes here.
-Piroe 67 Byram 70
Anthony 89
Anthony 89
Watford Coach Valérian
Ismaël took drastic action at half-time to try and get a
foothold in a game dominated by Leeds with a triple substitution
and a formation change. Now 3-1-4-2, they lined up as Bachmann;
Sierralta, Porteous, Hoedt; Kayembe; Andrews, Louza,
Dele-Bashiru, Lewis; Bayo, Rajović.
-Struijk 58
A.Armstrong 2, 35
Smallbone 31
A.Armstrong 2, 35
Smallbone 31
When Southampton made a
double substitution in the 69th minute, "16|24" was the first
change signalled but Adams pulled rank and ran on ahead of
Charles (24) when the departing Smallbone (16) reached the
touchline. Adams also took the captain's armband when Adam
Armstrong was stood down for the closing stages - the home side
opting for a five man midfield with Bree on the right and Aribo
centre-left. In what amounted to a very disappointing game for
Leeds, who were previously six unbeaten in the league, Georginio
Rutter was one of the few bright sparks. He finished the
afternoon on the right-wing when Bamford returned from injury
with a cameo appearance from the bench.
-Summerville 9
1■Begović 90+3
Put notes here.
-James 37 Piroe 53
Naismith 45+4
Naismith 45+4
Put notes here.
-Duffy 63og
Summerville 77, 85
Duffy 4 Sara 43
Summerville 77, 85
Duffy 4 Sara 43
Norwich's Springett
initially came on at right-wing meaning that makeshift full-back
Archie Gray now had to contend with England U-21 star, Jonathan
Rowe. Later Springett did switch to that side when Rowe was part
of a triple substitution immediately after the equalising goal.
David Wagner shifted slightly at this point to 4-2-3-1 with a
familiar face in Adam Forshaw teaming up with McClean in a
double pivot, Sara in front of them, Fassnacht on the right and
Hwang a lone striker. Daniel Farke, on his return to Carrow
Road, plotted more radical changes of his own at 2-0 down but
delayed the introduction of Gnonto and Bamford after the Duffy
own goal gave Leeds a foothold in the game. When the subs did
arrive, six attacking players were now shoehorned in a 3-1-4-2
with Gnonto and James as unlikely wing-backs, and Piroe and
Summerville operating behind Bamford and Rutter. Anthony was
then added as a direct replacement for James at left wing-back
and remained there even after the defensive finishers were
brought on in injury-time. It was now more 5-2-3 allowing Ayling
to play as a regular right-back, Cooper to sweep up behind Rodon
and Struijk, Gray in his more comfortable midfield environs and
Gnonto/Bamford/Rutter providing the outlets. On a point of
trivia, Gnonto had queue jumped when coming on meaning that
Bamford, though officially replacing Kamara, had to wait for
Byram to troop across from the other side of the pitch.
-Struijk
80og
•●Bamford
75 (over)
An interesting tactical
nuance from Stoke was that they shifted to 3-4-3 in possession,
with Johnson moving out to the left and Hoever pushing high on
the right as they looked to double up in wide areas. Leeds made
a triple change midway through the second half, refreshing the
front four to James-Rutter-Summerville supporting Bamford. After
falling behind, two more subs were introduced to allow a reprise
of the 3-1-4-2 formation used to good effect at Norwich. Ayling
and James were the wing-backs with Poveda and Summerville
centrally behind the front two. In response, Stephens came on as
Stoke's third left-back of the evening with Gooch moving forward
into the winger's role.
-James 20, 34
Summerville 31, 45+4
Helik 70
Summerville 31, 45+4
Helik 70
Put notes here.
-Rutter 58
Given his Manchester City
connections, it is perhaps not surprising that Enzo Maresca has
used the tactics of the treble winners as a blueprint for his
Leicester side. Thus in possession, Pereira played as a
defensive midfielder in a formation dubbed "3-box-3". In the
final quarter the Portuguese man operated as a full-time
midfielder (with Choudhury taking over the dual role) and was
also the replacement captain once Vardy was withdrawn
immediately after the winning goal. Leeds' most impressive
periods were at the start of both halves and after half-time, it
was noticeable that the front four were given license to
interchange. James and Summerville swapped wings very briefly
from around the 62nd minute but for the closing stages
positional discipline took over; United seeing the game out in a
deep-lying 4-5-1 and doubling up on the home team's pacey
wingers. Daniel Farke was booked in the first-half for dissent
following the non-award of a penalty.
-James 21 Piroe 28
Waine 84
Waine 84
Steven Schumacher was the
busier of the two managers as Leeds predictably dominated the
game. First he switched his wing-backs after 20 minutes, then he
reverted to a back four after his first substitutions. Edwards,
who quickly took possession of the captain's armband, was an
inverted right back in the new system that was loosely 4-1-4-1.
It was headed by the other sub Waine, with Whittaker and Mumba
flanking Cundle and Azaz, Houghton as the pivot and Kesler
Hayden back on the left side of the defence. That role later
passed on to Mumba when Issaka came on at left-wing with Callum
Wright just inside him. The final change was to replace Houghton
with Butcher, making it more of a 4-5-1 but still with Edwards
pushing into defensive midfield areas in possession. Other than
the occasional interchanges of the attacking players, the only
tactical note for Leeds was that Farke made the same game
management changes as at Leicester; Bamford a lone runner at the
front to allow Gruev to bolster the midfield. The whistles that
rang round the stadium through over seven minutes of injury-time
demonstrated how successful Plymouth were in staying in a
contest that in truth, should have effectively been over long
before.
-Summerville 6
Odoffin 45+1
Odoffin 45+1
An equaliser conceded on the
stroke of half-time changed the course of a game Leeds had
totally dominated to that point. Indeed after the interval, the
buoyed up Millers sensed they might even record a victory for
new caretaker manager Wayne Carlisle. To attempt to wrestle back
control, Daniel Farke made a triple substitution and a switch to
the 3-1-4-2 used against Norwich and Stoke to varying effect.
Ampadu was now a lone midfielder with Gnonto and James (later
Anthony) as the most attacking of wing-backs and Poveda and
Summerville probing behind a Piroe-Bamford strike pairing.
Carlisle quickly reponded by changing to 3-4-2-1 with Lembikisa
initially stationed to the left of the two starting
centre-backs. However in the 80th minute he moved to right
wing-back, swapping with Peltier, while skipper Morrison moved
to the centre of the back three. In the new formation Onyedinma
and Rathbone were inside-right and inside-left respectively but
Rathbone stayed towards the right, after moving across to take a
corner in the 85th minute. Pascal Struijk made a return as a
late sub, less than three weeks after double hernia surgery,
when Cooper succumbed to a slight hamstring strain. Struijk also
took over the captain's armband.
-Piroe 4 Rutter 45+3
James 61
Paterson 1
James 61
Paterson 1
An incredible start saw a
Dan James goal chalked off for offside and Swansea counter from
the quickly taken free-kick to set up Paterson's lob over
Meslier... all within the first minute. The substitutions for
both teams were like-for-like with one exception: Bolasie coming
on at left-wing for the visitors so that Lowe could switch to
the centre-forward position vacated by Yates. For Leeds, a cramp
stricken Struijk was withdrawn late on and and placed the
captain's armband on the oncoming Cooper, in a reverse of a
ceremony between the pair at Rotherham.
-James 5 Summerville
7
Piroe 38p
Latte Lath 3, 45
Piroe 38p
Latte Lath 3, 45
•●Piroe
38
1■■Dijksteel 63
After being reduced to ten
men, Middlesbrough went 4-4-1 by putting Jones to right-back
with Crooks in front of him. While the first half was laden with
goals, the second was a cat and mouse affair - Leeds camped in
Boro's half searching for the clincher while their opponents
waited to spring on the counter for an equaliser. However with
no additions to the scoreline, Farke's team opted for game
management tactics late on augmented by the injury-time arrival
of Gruev in place of Piroe to shore up the midfield.
-James 27 Summerville
75
The Championship's leading
scorer, Szmodics, moved to centre-forward as a result of
Blackburn's half-time substitution. Other positional changes
were Brittain switching to the right flank and Moran playing in
the hole with Sigurðsson coming in on the left. Later Szmodics
and Moran would return to their original positions when Ennis
came on to lead the line and Brittain dropped deeper to replace
Hill at full-back. Leeds' subs were like-for-like to the extent
that Gruev operated further forward than in his previous cameo
appearances.
-Bellingham
78
Put notes here.
-Summerville 58
Thomas 66
Thomas 66
Put notes here.
-Struijk 8 Davis 25og
Summerville 45p Piroe 52
Summerville 45p Piroe 52
•●Summerville
45
Put notes here.
-Struijk 83p
Browne 57 Millar 89
Browne 57 Millar 89
•●Struijk
83
1■Meslier 53
Put notes here.
-Diangana
37
The most noteworthy aspect
of the initial set-ups was West Brom's use of Molumby as a
second striker, usually to the right of Thomas-Asante in the
press. Behind them, two banks of four generally frustrated
Leeds' flair players after a bright start came to nothing. On
the hour mark, Farke employed his usual 3-1-4-2 game rescue plan
but with Gruev sitting in front of the back three as Ampadu was
required to play RCB. Upfield James was on the right, Anthony on
the left, Piroe and Summerville just behind Bamford and Rutter.
It had some initial effect in disrupting the home team and
forcing Yorkuşlu to drop deeper but once Kyle Bartley was
brought on as a specialist third centre-back, Albion rarely
looked in danger of conceding. With them now sitting in a 5-4-1
low block, Leeds spent most of the remaining time passing the
ball around the fringes of the crowd scene with the plethora of
pink-shirted forwards only adding to the congestion. For
injury-time, Joseph joined Bamford at the front and Júnior came
in on the left of the defence although positions were fairly
meaningless by this stage with every outfield player in the
opposition half. West Brom's first three substitutions were made
in the same window, the restart having been delayed by Wallace's
groin injury which forced him to leave the field with Townsend
taking over as captain.
-Bamford 34 James
45+1
Summerville 67
Summerville 67
Put notes here.
-Ampadu 34, 90
Bamford 47
Bamford 47
A cup upset was averted
thanks to Ethan Ampadu's first goals in English football and a
wonder volley from Patrick Bamford. Peterborough changed to
3-4-1-2 with their first substitutions. Fernandez was initially
in the centre of the back three with Ajiboye and Burrows as
wing-backs and Mothersille and Mason-Clark paired up front.
Later Fernandez and Edwards shifted to the right to allow
Crichlow to come on as the left centre-back. For Leeds, Ayling
collected the captain's armband from Ampadu when he entered the
game from the bench. There was then a raft of changes in the
85th/86th minutes, the last of which should have been Poveda for
Anthony but the Colombian international stole a march on Kamara
while the latter was tying his laces. Until being subbed after
the third goal, Piroe had a brief spell as the main striker with
(R-L) Poveda, Kamara and James behind him.
-Bamford 13 James 31
Rutter 88
Rutter 88
•●Summerville
79 (post)
Cardiff's Wintle played a
similar role to that performed by Molumby for West Brom on 29th
December: a second striker in a (fairly passive) 4-4-2 press but
dropping into right midfield when Leeds advanced. Just before
half-time he reverted to an orthodox midfield brief, and took
over the captaincy, when Ralls had to be replaced - Erol Bulut
opting at this point to introduce a more natural 'number 10' in
Rubin Colwill. The subsequent substitutions for both sides were
like-for-like so Piroe had a brief stint at centre-forward and
Shackleton a few moments as a midfielder again, albeit without
touching the ball. Daniel Farke was clearly not for making
unforced changes until the win was secured by a third goal which
when it eventually came, was aided by Rinomhota and Grant
colliding with each other and clearing the way for James to lead
the break. After Rutter applied the finish and paid homage to
Luke Ayling with an air guitar goal celebration, Piroe and
Anthony had a further wait on the touchline pending assessment
of Grant's head injury.
-James 6 Piroe 90+4p
Keane 2
Keane 2
•●Piroe
90+4
Put notes here.
-Bamford 16
Put notes here.
-Anthony 31
Randell 73
Randell 73
Put notes here.
-Gnonto 47
Put notes here.
aetGnonto
66
Summerville 97
Rutter 111 Hardie 117og
Galloway 78
Summerville 97
Rutter 111 Hardie 117og
Galloway 78
Put notes here.
-Bamford 10
Summerville 52, 60p
Summerville 52, 60p
•●Summerville
60
Rotherham's Cafú and Lindsay
swapped over from the 30th minute until half-time. The Millers
then switched to a 3-5-2 formation at 3-0 down after their
triple substitution. Their central midfield was now
Rinohmoto-Clucas-Tiéhi with Eaves and Nombe paired up-front.
Ex-Leeds skipper Lee Peltier donned the captain's armband late
on. Daniel Farke was in the happy situation of being able to use
his changes to rest key men, give minutes to fringe players and
hand a debut to loan singing Connor Roberts. Although the shape
did not change, Rutter moved to left-wing, and Gray and Ampadu
stepped into midfield as oncoming players took over their
starting positions. While the scoreline did not flatter Leeds',
the visitors had genuine grievance that the opening goal was
allowed to stand; Bamford using his elbow to divert a ricocheted
cross in at the near post.
-Summerville 8 Piroe
10
Gnonto 35, 72
Gnonto 35, 72
Put notes here.
-Gnonto 10 Rutter 72
Rutter and Piroe swapped
roles from the 63rd minute and when the pair were withdrawn in
injury-time, Joseph played in front of Gelhardt. Perhaps
surprisingly, Gray remained at right-back when Roberts came on
with the Burnley loanee given the more advanced position on the
right; James switching to the left wing. Whittaker was
Plymouth's captain after Houghton was subbed.
-Roberts 80 Faes 83og
Bamford 90+4
Faes 15
Bamford 90+4
Faes 15
An absolutely incredible
night at Elland Road that saw the gap between the division's top
two close to six points. For most of the evening though, it
appeared likely that Leicester would be basking in double that
differential. An impressive performance saw them take an early
lead, have a second goal wrongly flagged offside and create
numerous other clear chances with direct runs beyond a high
Leeds defensive line. Although United had good opportunities of
their own in the first forty minutes, they barely got a sight of
goal again until Roberts flashed in the equaliser that sparked
an unlikely turnaround. The subsequent strikes were both heavily
deflected and Archie Gray's left-footed shot was subsequently
adjudged to be a Faes own goal. Meanwhile Daniel James received
the adulation of crowd and teammates alike for his injury-time
free-kick, with Bamford running alone in the opposite directon
to celebrate the contribution of his right knee. Tactical notes
from this game were that Gray went to left-back when Júnior was
withdrawn, while Choudhury was deployed in the inverted
full-back role that Leicester have been favouring this season.
-Joseph 8, 59
Jackson 15 Mudryk 37
Gallagher 90
Jackson 15 Mudryk 37
Gallagher 90
Put notes here.
-Bamford 67
Helik 45+1
Helik 45+1
1■■Hogg 45+4
Put notes here.
-James 33
1■■Pearson 86
Put notes here.
-Bamford 45+4 Gnonto
58
Sheffield Wednesday manager
Danny Röhl received a yellow card for dissent midway through the
second-half. This came shortly after he had changed to a 4-4-2
formation by putting on an extra forward in Smith. Leeds' first
substitutions came later in the game with Roberts operating on
the right wing and James on the left, in contrast to the players
they officially replaced.
-Gnonto 33 James 79
Archie Gray went into
midfield when Kamara was replaced by Roberts for the closing
minutes.
-Summerville 37
Joseph 85
Bayo 31 Dennis 44
Bayo 31 Dennis 44
Hampered by injuries and
fatigue to his international players, changes were forced on
Daniel Farke but he opted to reset as far as possible to his
winning formula with his first substitution. This saw Júnior on
at left-back, Ampada restored alongside Rodon (and wearing the
captain's armband), Gray in midfield and Byram switching to the
right. Watford had pressed aggressively in the first-half but
losing Dennis disrupted their ability to maintain such a high
line. Though initially their revised front three flattened out
as (R-L) Asprilla-Koné-Bayo, gradually the new man dropped back
as Leeds set up camp in their half. The pattern of the game was
accentuated by the final gamble, which paid immediate dividends
with Joseph's first league goal, and saw United in roughly a
2-3-3-2 formation - doubling up on the flanks with James-Anthony
and Júnior-Summerville, Bamford and Joesph through the middle
supported by Piroe and only Gray offering much defensive cover.
-Byram 9 Summerville
88p
James 90+7
Carvalho 34
James 90+7
Carvalho 34
•●Summerville
88
Put notes here.
-Piroe 76
Simms 9 Wright 49
Simms 9 Wright 49
Put notes here.
A frustrating night as
United dropped their first points at Elland Road in 2024. Other
than two strong penalty claims, there were few clear-cut
chances, even after Daniel Farke sacrificed a holding midfielder
and went 4-1-4-1 when bringing Gnonto on in a free role. The
Italian finished the game on the right-wing; Piroe playing
centrally after replacing James as part of a late triple change.
Sunderland set up similarly to how they had at the Stadium of
Light with a false nine (Bellingham on this occasion) supporting
chief danger man Jack Clarke but their overall approach was much
more defensive. Alese played at left centre-back when he came on
with O'Nien moving to the right and Hume taking over the vacated
wing-back position. There was a curious incident in the 70th
minute when Kamara was booked after a foul by Júnior, who was
then also shown the yellow card. The fact that many sources
subsequently removed the Kamara sanction from their reports,
gave weight to the suspicion that it had been a case of mistaken
identity on the part of referee Tim Robinson.
-Szmodics
82
Blackburn boss John Eustace
oversaw his second success over Leeds this season (the first
being with Birmingham in August) and in so doing, deprived the
hosts of their unbeaten home record. Having attended the
Sunderland game in midweek, he set his own team up in a similar
formation but employing a more fluid front three. Although
initially lining up on the left as part of Rovers' kick-off
routine, Gallagher soon moved over to the right flank to
challenge for long channel balls. Szmodics and Dolan
interchanged with regularity in the other forward positions
while the trio all contributed to the winner - Gallagher
outjumping Rodon and Dolan cleverly threading the pass that put
Szmodics in behind a stretched defence. By this stage Leeds had
gone 4-1-4-1 in an attempt to force a breakthrough, with
James-Piroe-Joseph-Summerville lining up behind Bamford. With
further risk-taking being necessitated by the goal, Anthony was
brought on as an unlikely left-back but the visitors held firm.
Frustation boiled over deep into injury-time with a red card
shown to United coach, Christopher John. Blackburn's Scott
Wharton succumbed to a back injury at half-time and was replaced
by McFadzean who went into the middle of the back five, Hyam
moving to left centre-back.
-Summerville 14p, 61
Bamford 18 Gnonto 39
I.Jones 7
Latte Lath 30, 87
Bamford 18 Gnonto 39
I.Jones 7
Latte Lath 30, 87
•●Summerville
14
There were two variations to
Leeds' usual tactics, especially during a breathless opening
period. Gnonto and Summerville were swapping with regularity,
while the in-possession formation was 4-1-4-1 with Gray looking
to link up with the forwards at every opportunity. After
half-time the approach was more conservative, sitting deep and
waiting to spring on the counter which paid dividends when the
lead was doubled by a trademark Summerville strike. Shortly
after this, Middlesbrough changed to 4-2-2-2 with Isaiah Jones
and Bangura providing the width as wing-backs, while Azaz and
Gilbert acted as inside forwards supporting a strike force of
Silvera and Latte Lath. United's substitutions were
like-for-like positionally, including Kamara as a "Number 10" -
at least initially. Boro pulling a goal back meant he became
part of a flat midfield five during the nervy closing minutes
which saw the home team deploy Clarke as an auxillary
centre-forward in their search for an equaliser.
-Chair
8 Andersen 22
Dykes 73 Field 86
Dykes 73 Field 86
Put notes here.
-Piroe 21
A.Armstrong 18
Smallbone 35
A.Armstrong 18
Smallbone 35
This game quickly became a
damp squib with news filtering through from Portman Road that
Ipswich were more than on target for the point they needed to
secure the second automatic promotion spot. That said the cheap
nature of the goals conceded, both featuring ball watching en
masse, did little to boost confidence for the Play-Off challenge
ahead. Piroe dropped into the hole when Joseph came on and the
formation finished up as 4-1-4-1 when Gelhardt joined him in
midfield late on; Gray now a lone pivot.
Put notes here.
-Gruev 7 Piroe 20
Rutter 40 Summerville 68
Rutter 40 Summerville 68
Put notes here.
Nat
Wembley Stadium
(London)
(London)
-A.Armstrong
24
Leeds United failed for the
sixth time to secure promotion via the Play-Offs. Although they
started brightly and enjoyed plenty of possession throughout,
they were unable to recover from Adam Armstrong netting his
fourth goal in three matches against them this season. As the
game ebbed away, Daniel Farke moved Gray into midfield with
Roberts taking over at right-back. Then Gray was shifted again,
to the right of a back three, when Júnior was sacrificed for the
final push. The formation now matched Southampton's 3-5-2 with
Gruev anchoring midfield and a quartet of
Roberts-Piroe-Anthony-James supporting Joseph and Rutter. After
switching to the left, James crashed a shot against the bar and
drew a decent save from ex-Leeds loanee Alex McCarthy but those
were rare moments when an equaliser was threatened. Out of
possession, the Saints were really 5-3-2 as they were clearly
intent on not leaving gaps for United's wide men to exploit. In
possession, they had scope to become 4-3-3 with Brooks playing
mainly from the right, leaving space for Fraser to push forward
on the opposite flank. A shoulder injury forced them to replace
Brooks with Edozie before half-time but the substitute was
himself withdrawn with cramp late on. By this time, he was
playing as left wing-back after Fraser had been subbed to allow
Armstrong and Ché Adams to be paired up-front.