Leeds United 2-0 Derby County: YEP reaction
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00:00Hello there, Lee Sobot at the Yorkshire Evening Post here from Ellon Road where Leeds United
00:07have returned back to the top of the Championship with, it's got to be said, a very, very easy
00:122-0 victory against a disappointing Derby County team who took until the 80th minute
00:18to have their first shot on target. Ironic cheers inside the ground when they finally
00:22mustered up that and they had another one shortly afterwards, although I'm not even
00:25sure that was classed as a shot in the end ahead of the LMLEAE they gathered, but just
00:29complete one-way traffic here in the end as Leeds United recorded a 2-0 victory, which
00:34I say has put them back onto top spot and it's now over to Sheffield United on Sunday
00:39with their fixture away at West Brom. Obviously see how that one goes, but whatever happens
00:45with that one, this is going to put Leeds in the, well it does put Leeds in the automatic
00:49promotion spots and we'll leave them there after this weekend's games, courtesy of Burnley's
00:541-1 draw against Middlesbrough on Friday night and they look like two good teams going toe
00:59to toe and Leeds really here look like a team, you know, basically, it looked like two teams
01:05in two different divisions to be quite honest and Derby were very disappointing off a very
01:09very little and really it was just a case of getting through that frustrating sort of
01:13first half an hour stroke 40 minutes when Leeds dominated possession as you kind of
01:18expected they would, but weren't able to break through. Joe Roden probably missed the best
01:22chance sending a header over the bar, he did well to get a free header, good movement,
01:27you know, point back when you send it over and just listen to his post-match interview
01:30he said basically felt like he had a bit too much time to think about it because he then
01:34scored with what was probably a harder chance, his first goal for the club. It's been strange
01:39actually to think that's his first goal for Leeds because he gets forward, he's obviously
01:43going to be a massive threat at corners with his, you know, how tall he is and his physique
01:46and everything, but finally that was his first goal, header from a Rothwell corner, keeper
01:50got a touch to it but just couldn't keep it out. That was 1-0, that was the breakthrough,
01:55straight away Leeds went for the juggler, went for a second and of all people Max Verba
01:59getting the second goal, again with his first goal for the club, so a defender double and
02:03two people with their first goals for Leeds United to get the goals and then put this
02:09team away, that was 2-0. Verba only on the pitch because the junior Firpo went off injured,
02:15so that's obviously one blow here and we'll wait and see what the situation is for Firpo,
02:18he was an injury doubt before the game after a knock to the foot in training, so I think
02:23a few people thought he might be out but it soon became apparent he was here and he started
02:28but didn't last very long, I think it was midway through the first half where we noticed
02:33he was pointing, holding the back of his leg, went down needing treatment, he actually pointed
02:37to the bench himself and it was pretty clear then that he was coming off and Verba went
02:40on and that's what happened and I've got to say Max Verba did very, very well at left
02:43back, he's obviously, well firstly obviously there was a situation about him leaving the
02:47club etc, one of the lone escapees, but it's been the same with Aronson, he's back here
02:50now, he's a Leeds player, so you've got to sort of get behind him and he is a centre
02:55back obviously by trade but he has played left back as well and to my eye there's no
02:59doubt that he could and should be able to hold down the left back spot here if needed,
03:03it obviously depends what happens with Firpo, but he's a good defender but not just that,
03:07he also gets forward and he's not really known for getting forward but he does actually get
03:11forward and hence he got the second goal here which came from Brendan Aronson's cross, Aronson
03:18obviously under the spotlight a lot in terms of not scoring or creating enough chances
03:23but he kept himself busy, he was always popping up left, right and centre and kept going like
03:27he always does and he sent a cross through the area which Verba netted from close range,
03:35fine pass from Pascal Stroot, from Roden I think it was actually to start off that move
03:38for Dan James to play it then to Aronson down that side and yeah that was 2-0 at half time
03:44and I mean it felt done, it's only two goals but I mean the gulf was way bigger than two goals
03:50between the two sides in the first half really and the only, well one of the only disappointing
03:54things I suppose obviously the Firpo injury is that Leeds couldn't add to the tally in the second
03:58half and they certainly had the chances to do it, Darby's keeper had a very very good game,
04:04he was the only player who played any good for Darby but for him Leeds would have scored 3-4 or 5
04:09but probably you know might well be important in such a tight division at the top depending on
04:13what happens at the end of the season but the goal difference is better as it stands anyway
04:17than everybody else's but you know just probably could and should have boosted it a little bit more
04:22here but it's job done, I felt like they had to win today really, it did really feel like a must
04:26win game, it's very early in the season but there's no doubt that there's a group of teams
04:30looking like they're going to pull away, Leeds obviously being one of those, obviously along
04:35with Sheffield United, Burnley and Borough as I say looked very good sides on Friday evening,
04:39Borough have got a bit of work to do but you won't write them off and that's going to be an
04:42absolutely enormous game here on Tuesday evening now when Leeds play Borough, you know basically
04:48need to beat them and try and get some distance between them because I know Borough are a bit
04:52further down than the other sides but there's no doubt they're capable of mounting a challenge
04:57for the top two, I don't know if there's any doubt about that so they've got to be very wary of that
05:00one on Tuesday evening and that's going to be a massive game here under the Ellen Road lights.
05:05Sunderland got a last minute, well not last minute, fairly late winner so it's still very
05:09close at the top, the top four with Sunderland fourth so as I say it felt like there was no
05:16real room margin for error here and they got the job done and obviously bounced back from defeat
05:21as well, you know that defeat at Blackburn Rovers was very very disappointing, the away form is
05:25obviously the thing that's letting Leeds down, that's seven wins on the bounce here at Ellen Road now
05:30which is some record really when you think about it, I mean it's all very well just
05:33expecting Leeds to win when they're at home but they've got to go out and
05:36actually do it and they have done that and seven straight wins at Ellen Road takes some doing and
05:40let's hope they can make it eight next Tuesday night but it'll be a lot lot harder against
05:44Middlesbrough. I don't want to disrespect Derby or anything because they've obviously
05:48had a few good results this season and they're back in this division after going up from
05:52League One but they just look miles off it compared to Leeds today and as I say when it's 2-0
05:59you never really know but it just felt like there was no way they were going to come
06:03back into the game after it was 2-0. I think Leeds were 1-250 and running at half time and
06:09under Bucky's and to be honest that sounds about right, I don't think you can really argue with that
06:12and that definitely proved the case so yeah job done, we'll wait and see what happens with Firpo's
06:17injury, tight turnaround now obviously ahead of the game against Borough and in the meantime
06:23all Leeds fans will be West Brom fans cheering on Carlos Corberan on Sunday against
06:27Chef United. West Brom haven't got a very good record at home, I think they've lost five games at home
06:31which is quite surprising but they do draw a lot of games and even a draw would do Leeds fine and
06:36that one obviously that would put Chef U back top but it would ultimately mean points dropped for
06:40them so you know it's hard to call at the moment, Leeds are odds on favourites for the title, they
06:46have been for ages, they're very very long odds on to get promoted, whether there should be quite
06:50that short remains to be seen but you know they've got the job done here today, that was the main
06:55thing and they just looked you know as I say miles better and now it'll just come down to you
07:00know consistency really and two things I suppose, consistency keeping up this record at Elland Row
07:05but ultimately improving away from home as well and we all know what's just around the corner
07:09with another trip over at Burnhines to Preston on Saturday, yet another lunchtime game, also that's
07:15broken the curse somewhat of these lunchtime games, finally a win in a lunchtime kickoff
07:20so that's good to see, now they need to go and do another one at Preston, that'll be a huge game
07:23next Saturday with a load of Leeds fans travelling over to that one, about 5,000 again so no doubt
07:29there'll be more chaos going over there, obviously had the stormy conditions here, see there's like
07:34bits and bobs floating around, it's not actually too bad in the stands at the moment but you could
07:38tell with the wind it was like some of the goal kicks were crazy just coming back you know towards
07:41Melier and also the Derby keeper but yeah I mean you know as I say, stormed that where it was but
07:47the only thing that was blown away in the end here was Derby County, 2-0 but it was a lot more
07:51comfortable than that, finished here, Leeds United are top of the division, Leeds United 2, Derby County 0.