Leeds United had their best performance of the season so far as they dispatched of Millwall 0-3 at The Den. A brace from Joel Piroe and a late goal from Georginio Rutter secured all three points for Leeds who were exceptional in catching the hosts on the counter attack.
Gary Rowett’s men got off to a lively start in the opening the ten minutes but were unable to capitalise on their good start. Leeds however were able to soak up the pressure and catch Millwall out in transition to take the lead after fifteen minutes.
Rutter was able to pick the ball up just behind the halfway line and drive at the heart of the Millwall defence. He played the ball out wide to Willy Gnonto who played the ball back into the feet of Rutter who continued his run. Rutter was then able to cushion a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Joel Piroe who calmly swept the ball home to cap off a dynamic counter attack.
Millwall’s first threatening shot came after half an hour when Ryan Longman was able to cut inside onto his right foot and get his shot away, but Illan Meslier was able to get down well to deny the forward.
Similarly to the first half, it was the hosts who came out the better of the two sides in the second half. Casper De Norre picked out Tom Bradshaw in the box but the striker’s shot at goal was straight at Meslier.
Leeds were able to provide the ‘brutal’ finishing that Daniel Farke called for in his pre-match press conference with just under fifteen minutes to go to double their lead. Substitute Dan James had space to run into in the final third before poking a ball through to Rutter who made a run to his right. Rutter then squared the ball across back to James who slipped and scuffed his shot but it fell into the path of Piroe, who was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net from close range in what was their first shot on target in the second half.
United added a third to seal all three points with just under ten minutes to go as they managed to hit Millwall on the counter again. Dan James was again involved as his deflected cross in eventually found it’s way to Rutter who fired his strike past Bialkowski in the Millwall goal.
After the game, manager Daniel Farke praised his side in what he described as a “special day.”
“You have to be rock solid and show steel, don’t get annoyed and don’t lose your nerve and wait for the moment when you can shine and that’s what we did today” Farke said.
Today was the first time Leeds have kept consecutive clean sheets since April 2022 and it was also the first time Leeds have scored the first goal in a game during Farke’s tenure as manager.
The Championship’s unrelenting schedule means Leeds United are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to play Hull City where they will look to make it three consecutive away wins in the league.