If ever there was a time for Leeds United and Daniel Farke to dig deep, it as on Tuesday night.
Leeds United went into the midweek round of fixtures in a stressful 3rd place of the Championship table. But they go into the weekend back in 1st with five games left to play this season after beating Middlesbrough 1-0.
Sheffield United lost at home to Millwall whilst Burnley drew at Derby County to allow Daniel Farke’s side to reclaim the top spot after a really challenging few weeks.
Dan James spoke of his frustrations over missed chances going into the game at Middlesbrough but it was the Welshman who scored the all important goal on the night, assisted by an under fire Manor Solomon as well.
But the game was not without its controversy. Ao Tanaka had a goal disallowed in the first half that would’ve made the whole night much less pain-staking for Farke, with replays showing the goal to be onside.
The controversy doesn’t end there, though.
Linesman comes back to haunt Leeds United after Middlesbrough controversy
Darren Williams was one of the assistant referees for the game between Leeds United and Middlesbrough. And he stirred controversy during the first half after disallowing a goal from Tanaka when replays clearly showed the Japanese midfielder was onside.
Soon after, journalist Adam Pope then revealed on X that Williams had actually denied Leeds United earlier in the season; memorably disallowing Wilfried Gnonto’s goal in Leeds United’s 2-0 win over Coventry City in February this year, and then disallowing a Joel Piroe goal in the game against Millwall in March.
The Coventry incident in particular garnered a lot of debate on social media, as do so many refereeing decisions made in the Championship.
What actually happened when Ao Tanaka scored vs Middlesbrough?
On 33 minutes, Leeds United were piling on the pressure despite having taken a lead, looking really positive against a Middlesbrough side who looked unsettled at times in the first half.
Solomon cut inside and whipped in an inviting cross-cum-shot which Tanaka got onto the end off, shunting the ball over the line from point blank range before quickly realising that the goal had been ruled out by the linesman.
Straight away Tanaka protested. But the officials stuck with their decision and it’s a relief that the disallowed goal didn’t mean anything in the end, although it did make the remaining hour of the game much nervier.
Leeds United return to action against Preston on Saturday.
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