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Leeds United 2-0 Norwich City

  • reporter 

Leeds United reclaimed their spot at the top of the Championship table, after beating Norwich City 2-0 on Wednesday evening at Elland Road. They started the game in second place, after Sheffield United came from behind to beat ten-man Swansea on Tuesday.

Once again, it was a quick start for The Whites, as Manor Solomon opened the scoring within 34 seconds after getting on the end of a low drive into the box from Dan James, a similar finish to his opener against Sheffield Wednesday just 3 days ago.

Referee Matt Donnohue stamped his authority early on, dishing out three yellow cards within the first 15 minutes to Kellen Fisher, Sam Byram and Ao Tanaka.

Brenden Aaronson briefly required treatment after taking a knee to the back, but fortunately for Daniel Farke, the American re-entered the pitch just a couple of minutes later.

Despite the early blip, Norwich tightened up, limiting Leeds to very few chances of real danger for the rest of the first half, with the only real problems being caused by Daniel James, who took on a few wayward shots as well as working the way into the box multiple times. However, the canaries had to rethink their attacking approach, as they failed to register a shot on target within the opening 45 minutes.

It was an unlikely early double change for Leeds, as Daniel Farke opted to withdraw Ao Tanaka and Sam Byram for Ilia Gruev and Junior Firpo. Understandably so, given Leeds’ excellent squad depth at this level, with the majority of their bench being capable of starting for almost every other team in the Championship. It’s also worth noting Tanaka’s early booking, and with a crucial fixture against Burnley on Monday, it made sense to avoid the risk of a suspension for the Japanese international.

Leeds doubled their lead shortly after, as Daniel James met a Manor Solomon cross at the back post with his right foot, before heading over to celebrate with the Leeds United faithful in the Kop end.

Joe Rothwell saw yellow due to a highly unconvincing dive after driving his way into the penalty area, and the referee was having none of it.

Leeds’ next change saw Manor Solomon and Daniel James leave the pitch to a standing ovation, with both having a goal and an assist to their name. It was hardly a relief for Norwich however, as they were replaced by Willy Gnonto and Sunday afternoons super-sub, Largie Ramazani.

Joe Rothwell was replaced by Josuha Guilavogui, who almost made an instant impact after heading goalward with his first touch of the game.

The game ended after Leeds won one last corner, a night in which they were barely threatened by the canaries, who were consistently on the back foot from the get-go.

Leeds extended their unbeaten run at home, which now stretches to 12 matches, having won all but 1 of their games at Elland Road since their 1-0 defeat to promotion pushing Burnley on September 14th.

Now, The Whites’ attention turns to Monday, as they look to break away from The Clarets, potentially leaving them six points clear from dropping out of the automatic promotion spots.

It won’t be easy, with Scott Parker’s side also ending tonight with a convincing 5-0 win over struggling Plymouth Argyle.

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