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Good Morning. It's Wednesday 5th April. 23 years on, we remember Chris and Kevin.
Leeds climb to 13th after roller coaster win
Leeds rocketed up to 13th in the table after a roller coaster first half that saw them come from behind to (what turned out to be snatching victory on the cusp of half time. Leeds games are addictive, but should come with a Government health warning. For large periods, the match resembled a game of table tennis with emphasis on full out attack, and last ditch defending, so nobody should have been surprised when the first goal went in, after just twelve minutes.
First blood fell to the visitors, courtesy of a fine strike by Mangala. After good work from Dennis, the Belgium International Midfielder picked up the ball on the edge of the area, rode Sinisterra's challenge and curled the ball past the despairing dive of Meslier.
The silence that fell over Elland Road was deafening, as they momentarily slipped to 19th in the table (as 82 miles away, Leicester City had just taken the lead against Villa). Undeterred, Leeds rallied, and came up with an equiliser, just eight minutes later.
After good work from Harrison, McKennie tee'd up Roca on the edge of the 'D'. His first time effort could only be parried by Navas, but fell nicely back to Harrison, who wasn't going to miss from 5 yards out. Suddenly, the valve on the pressure cooker, (that is Elland Road) exploded, as the hosts, and their contingent exploded into life.
They deservedly took the lead on the cusp of half time, thanks to a solo effort from Luis Sinisterra. The Colombian winger found himself weaving in and out of traffic, on the edge of the Forest area, looking for a sight on goal. When an opening presented itself, the £22m Summer signing didn't disappoint. He arrowed a ferocious drive past Navas into the far corner of the goal, sending 36,000 Leeds fans ecstatic in the process.
The second half wasn't all one way traffic, but in truth, Leeds should have extended their lead, but were wasteful in front of goal. At the other end, they defended diligently. Forest's only shot on target came from Mangala's first half goal, such was their organisation at the back. In the end, it didn't matter as Leeds collected their seventh win of their campaign, lifting them to 13th in the table on 29 points,
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Nine games left
With nine games left, and 29 points on the board, it looks like there may be light a the end of the tunnel. With ten points for his seven games in charge, Javi Gracia has hopefully turned the tide. Odds of Leeds getting relegated have now widened to 9/2, though only two points separate them from the bottom three. How many points do Leeds need from their remaining nine games to avoid a trip back to the Championship?
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Ridsdale - I wouldn’t have gone ahead with the game in Istanbul
Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the Semi-Final match between Galatasaray and Leeds Utd, where, only hours earlier (early hours of the morning), two Leeds fans were brutally murdered by knife wielding thugs. Today, we remember Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight.
Yesterday, the Breakfast Debate caught up with Peter Ridsdale, and asked him in retrospect, whether the game should have gone ahead. I have to admit, having had several conversations with Peter lately, I found him to be an honourable man, who in my opinion had best intentions for the club, before it went horribly out of control. The way he acted that night (even rushing to the hospital, handing over his own credit card so the hospital would treat the duo) should at least go some way to making up with the fiasco in the boardroom.
Peter explained that he didn't want to go ahead with the match that evening, but after conferring with UEFA, had little choice. If Leeds didn't turn up for the game, the match would have been awarded to Galatasaray. I'm wondering, if Leeds called the bluff, and caught the next plane back to Leeds, whether UEFA would have gone ahead with their threat? Nationally, the public outcry at the time was obviously very much in Leeds favour. According to our former Chairman:-
"No I wouldn’t have gone ahead with the game in Istanbul but UEFA said that if we didn’t we would have had to forfeit the game."
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and I’m not sure how any manager controls whether the opposition strikers are going to bury every shot or not.