Leeds United recorded their third home win in a row as they beat Bristol City 2-1 at Elland Road thanks to goals from Dan James and Joel Piroe either side of a Kal Naismith equaliser for the visitors.
Georginio Rutter who has been one of the standout performers for Leeds this season had a moment to forget in the opening ten minutes or so. Crysencio Summerville flashed the ball across to Rutter at the back post who had an empty net from just a few yards away, but he blazed his strike over the bar.
Leeds continued to pile on the pressure when Ethan Ampadu’s left footed shot from outside the box stung the gloves of Max O’Leary but the game remained goalless.
United finally found the breakthrough with just under ten minutes in the first half. Glen Kamara did well to harass Jason Knight until he was forced to surrender possession to Rutter.
Rutter then managed to put a cross into the box that Summerville wasn’t able to connect cleanly with, but luckily for Leeds the ball fell for Dan James who drilled his shot low and into the bottom right corner.
Leeds were in the ascendancy after they scored but were dealt a heavy blow as Bristol City equalised in what was virtually the last action of the first half.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s corner was headed home by Kal Naismith to give The Robins a goal against the run of play to ensure the score was level at half-time.
Leeds regained the lead early in the second half when Joel Piroe shot’s from 20 or so yards out found bottom right corner to give the Dutchman his fifth goal of the season.
After Leeds regained the advantage, they looked to put the game to bed but Max O’Leary kept his side in the game. Rutter played the ball to Summerville who’s shot was tipped onto the crossbar spectacularly by O’Leary.
With Leeds unable to finish the game off, Bristol City began to build some momentum in the latter stages of the game, but never carved out any meaningful goalscoring opportunities as Leeds managed to hold on and secure the three points.
Speaking after the game, Leeds manager Daniel Farke said:
“We could have made our life much easier if we could convert more out of our amazing chances, but I can’t complain about anything performance wise, we have played against a really solid side who don’t normally concede goals away from home.
We have scored twice, created more chances than any other team against them but our effectiveness is something we have to work on because it would calm my nerves down and would make our life easier but I can’t argue against three points.”
After the international break, Leeds return to play away at Carrow Road against Norwich City, meaning a return to familiar territory for Farke who guided Norwich to the Championship title twice in his tenure there.