Leeds United 4 Bristol City 0. We are Family. It was a special moment: an emphatic result with the players at peak performance, the fans roared all match being the twelfth man. The whole evening was a special memory for the fans.There was a real sense of the players and fans being one family.
Leeds played at the peak of the confidence tonight. They started with the handbrake off and played with passion until they got that precious first goal. They controlled the ball throughout. And then came on Ramazani whose first touch of the ball was to score and then bagged a late goal, showed Leeds can be unplayable.
The first job of promotion was achieved with a monstering of Stoke City at home – 6-0 – it was attacking football that exploited Stoke’s weaknesses in full. The next job, tonight and on Saturday, is to win the Championship. Burnley had already won on Saturday so Leeds’ had to win tonight. Mission accomplished. And in style.
The atmosphere in the ground when Marching On Together was played as the players came out was masterful – a deafening roar of pride and success. It was a sea of yellow. Leeds had come home. Back where they belong. And intending to take the Championship trophy with them.
Bristol City needed to win to cement their play off position so it was not guaranteed to be straightforward. But Bristol City have a meek away record. And Leeds rolled them over.
Solomon and Gnonto charged their way into the game with Bogle also providing width and almost scoring. Tanaka and Gruev had the bit between their teeth stopping Bristol from any meaningful attack. Bristol City were chasing lost causes.
Every player was in on the action but Gnonto’s precision was missing early on. Solomon kept probing with crosses and shots but Piroe and Gnonto couldn’t connect. Tanaka finally calmed everyone’s nerves when he was left unmarked at the back post to collect a Solomon cross and get Leeds off the mark. The opportunities kept coming as Leeds found space with Solomon and Aaronson coming close to scoring.
How Leeds didn’t score in the first minute of second half with Solomon setting up Firpo to score with a pin point save from O’Leary and then Gnonto tried with the deflected ball but O’Leary’s hand flapped it clear. But Leeds then pierced the defence with a cross of the season from Piroe on the wing that found Gnonto barely onside and unmarked who showed composure to score a sweet goal. Fans started to party with their scarves, raising the roof.
Leeds were now in cruise mode holding the ball. They were denied a penalty on 67 minutes when Firpo was blatantly pushed in front of the City goal. Bamford and Ramazani were then brought on to refresh the attack. Firpo did what he does best and took the ball down the left and crossed to Ramazani who charged in to score Leeds’ third goal celebrating with his signature acrobatic flip. Ramazani then put the icing on the cake with practically the last kick of the match – picking up another long cross from Gruev in the middle of the park and smashing it into the net.
Leeds were immense all match, soaking up rare City forays into the Leeds half. Darlow had one save to make in extra time as Ampadu and the Welsh Wall Rodon prevented City from having the time to shoot. The one touch football largely worked with its pace but occasionally even Solomon could not keep up. Aaronson had one of his better games with his majestic dribbling. Many of the players said it was one of their best performances all season. A clean sheet, four goals and most of the possession.
After a short break the players came out one by one and gathered to celebrate promotion. The party with a full house went for half an hour with the full repertoire of songs. It was a special moment: an emphatic result with the players at peak performance, the fans roared all match being the twelfth man. The whole evening was a special memory for the fans.
Leeds are already promoted but, if Burnley win their last match, Leeds just need to win away at Plymouth to win the Championship. They will also have reached 100 points. Leeds have now scored 61 goals at home this season, Piroe is on 19 goals. He wants 20, and the players want to win.
With all the noise of Farke possibly being sacked it was a joy to watch Farke him let his hair down and dancing with the players in the middle of the pitch. There was a true sense of togetherness in the team, a real feeling of a Leeds Family.
Player of the Match: All the team were high performing, not least Ramazani when he came on for just ten minutes but Solomon was the architect of many of the big chances.
