Leeds United v Leicester City 23rd February 2024 at Elland Road please log in to view this image please log in to view this image As the Leicester fans were left with egg on their faces after singing “Where’s your famous atmosphere?”, they found out very quickly that you never ever write Leeds United off. No one was leaving that game early today with everywhere still full on 90 minutes as our fans showed what an atmosphere was, and it was bouncing. This is what being Leeds is all about and as my daughter pointed out, something that we missed out on when we got promoted under Bielsa. We are heading in the right direction again and long may it continue despite it being hard going at times today. I can’t remember the last time I got to Elland Road three hours early, but it was busy before the game with a visit to the Peacock, my granddaughter Hannah and I being interviewed by Look North, going pitch side before heading into the ground and at some point, I was seen on Sky TV too. It was my turn to be on camera as someone was taking photos of Leeds fans and asked for mine to be done. Team: Meslier, Ampadu (captain), Firpo, Gray, Rodon, Summerville, Rutter, Kamara, Gnonto, Gruev, Piroe. Subs: Bamford for Piroe (64), James for Gnonto (64), Roberts for Firpo (73), Anthony for Summerville (90). Subs not used: Klaesson, Cresswell, Shackleton, Cooper, Joseph. Leeds won the game 3-1 with Connor Roberts getting his first goal with an equaliser for Leeds (80), Gray scoring his first goal for us (83), Bamford (90). Attendance: 36,954 with 2,900 Leicester fans. Referee: Craig Pawson. Booked: Ampadu, Kamara, Roberts, Meslier, Rodon. Leeds were put under pressure within the first five minutes as the referee forgot he wasn’t in the Premier League and he was supposed to let the game flow, as he awarded Leicester three free kicks in quick succession. Luckily, they didn’t get anything from them, but it set the tone as the team looked to be anxious with this top of the table clash. With Leicester showing their prowess at diving, it was good to see play actually carrying on but one in the penalty area should have seen their player receive a booking. I don’t think Leicester needed to do any of the cheating and diving though because they had enough of the game and had the better of our players in many situations during the first half. With many of our passes going astray and in one sense, trying too hard to walk the ball into the net, it took a while for us to get into the game. They had a header saved by Meslier and he was then called into action tipping a brilliant shot over the bar. They took the lead on 15 minutes when their corner across goal hit a player and the ball looped over everyone reaching their scorer unmarked at the back post who headed the ball into the net to put us on the back foot. At least Leicester scoring first did take some pressure off our players as they started to grow into the game. We managed to have a lot of possession but had to be aware of Leicester on the attack as they always looked dangerous. They did come forward again with a great chance, but their player hit the ball to the far wing and the ball went out for a goal kick instead. It was a good job he passed the ball to be honest as it looked like he would score. Rutter had two players marking him constantly. It didn’t take very long into the second half for Leicester to put us under pressure once again. It got to the stage very quickly where it felt like we needed to change things as they grew stronger and Meslier saved a shot. They carried on with the pressure as I was telling Farke he must make changes now as we didn’t want Leicester to score again before we did anything. This nearly did come back to haunt us as they headed the ball against the post and then hit the rebound into the net. As my heart sank, the goal was given as offside and disallowed which was a relief, but they still had another chance with Meslier saving the shot. Another chance for them saw Gray do enough to put their player off his final shot even though he was beaten, and they put the ball wide of the goal. That was a let off and I was so glad when we finally brought our subs on. Rutter battled to win the ball as it reached Summerville, but we couldn’t get a shot in. The ball fell kindly for Leicester to pile forward again but again despite a good chance for them they pulled the final shot wide. As they made a couple of subs, I knew that could be the turning point for us although the referee lost control of the situation by letting their player walk off across the pitch instead of making him go off at the left-hand side which was closer. This whipped our fans up into a frenzy, chanting, “you’re not fit to referee”, especially as our players went off at the nearest place earlier. When the ball fell kindly for Connor Roberts to score his first goal for us to equalise after a great run from Rutter, the relief around Elland Road with everyone cheering could be felt. I’d said I wanted Archie Gray to score his first goal for us earlier in the evening and when he unleashed a shot that deflected into the net to put us into the lead, Elland Road erupted. To say it’s normally quite sedate around us when scoring goals, this time it was absolute bedlam as we struggled to stay on our feet. Seeing the delight on Eddie Gray’s face on the highlights later after his family’s recent personal trauma was lovely to see. When Rutter was brought down in a good position at the edge of the box, Leeds completed the turnaround as James hit the free kick that deflected off Bamford into the net, so it was game over. The scenes around the ground were fantastic to see and be a part of and when you experience these, it is just absolutely wonderful. As the whistle blew it was great to see both Gray and Rutter going around the pitch first, milking the applause of the fans before going for the man of the match interview with Sky. These two are definitely my favourite players and I love how infectious their celebrations are. As we had our photo taken at Billy’s statue after the game, his never say die attitude and side before self was never more apparent than today. If only a part of that has rubbed off on our current players, then we won’t go far wrong. See you at Chelsea! LUFC – Marching on Together! please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Supposed to be doing some office work this morning and so far Ive spent two hours reading Leeds stuff. Have to get my head together soon
"Interestingly" the previous highs were also separated by one. 36,813 v Huddersfield and 36,812 v Boro
It’s easier to stay up and do my blog but in reality I keep falling asleep through it but also had to sift through 700+ photos and choose 80 but it always seems to take me at least 3 hours to do. I’m hoping it will be easier if and when my website gets updated but who knows?
