Leeds United picked up another vital victory by defeating Oxford United on Friday night.
With Burnley and Sheffield United both picking up wins earlier on Friday, the pressure was back on Leeds United to get all three points when they took on Oxford United.
It was a tough start, with the home side taking the game to Daniel Farke’s men, but their aggressive press soon faded and the Whites began to take control.
They managed to break Oxford’s resolve just after the half-hour mark when Jayden Bogle put the ball on a plate for Manor Solomon to fire home.
Leeds controlled the second half but struggled to find a decisive second and had to hold on at the end for the crucial victory.
Here’s how the players rated.
Karl Darlow – 8
Made a fantastic diving save early on to prevent Leeds from going behind. Another commanding, if quiet, display and you have to wonder if promotion would already be secured if he was brought into the side earlier.
Jayden Bogle – 9
It was a quiet first half hour for Bogle and his high press was just serving to leave a massive hole for Oxford to exploit. However, he then made a great run and played the perfect pass across the box for Solomon to finish. Continued to attack throughout and was probably Leeds’ brightest forward in the second half.
Joe Rodon – 10
Another colossal display at the back from Joe Rodon. He was repeatedly having to move across to the right to deal with danger in Bogle’s absence early on and made some resolute challenges. His tackle in added time was absolutely pivotal.
It was his beautiful, defence-splitting pass that put Bogle through to tee up the opener and he did well on the ball all game. You couldn’t ask for more.
Ethan Ampadu – 8
Read the game well and made a few important blocks in another solid showing in the heart of defence. Aggressive in winning the ball back.
Junior Firpo – 8
Energetic as he marshalled the left flank throughout, delivering dangerous crosses and making well-timed clearances at the back.
Ao Tanaka – 6.5
Another leggy display from Ao Tanaka, who appears to be running on fumes as the season reaches its conclusion. He was sloppy on the ball and lost possession after six minutes to give Oxford a great opening, which Darlow had to deal with. Not adventurous in his passing but did use the ball better after the mishap and defended well. Hit the post with a rasping drive.
Ilia Gruev – 7.5
Built on his performance against Preston with another fine game. Used the ball really well when bringing it forward and controlled the tempo as Leeds dominated. Took one for the team by getting booked for cynically ending a counterattack.
Willy Gnonto – 5
It was Willy Gnonto’s 100th Championship appearance but it won’t be remembered for anything else.
He drifted in-field and had some nice interplay but had little end product at the end of it in an ineffective game. He struggled to get shots on target and often got the weight of his passes wrong.
Brenden Aaronson – 6
Lively in the attacking third and linked up well but needs to be more composed when getting chances on goal, as he could have made it 1-0 much sooner.
Manor Solomon – 8
It took him a bit to grow into things with some overhit deliveries but Solomon found the crucial goal when he turned in at the back post. He seemed to come to life after the strike and ran the right-back ragged with mazy runs.
Leeds can only hope the injury that forced him off the field isn’t serious ahead of Monday’s game.
Joel Piroe – 7
It’s now nine games without a goal for Joel Piroe but this performance was much more promising than his recent outings.
He has been dead weight up front for weeks as he hasn’t contributed in build-up play but at the Kassam Stadium, he was constantly dropping deep to get on the ball and play in his fellow forwards.
There were some lovely two-touch play and threaded passes, which should have yielded him at least one assist if Aaronson was better in front of goal. Faded a bit in the second half as Leeds had to dig in.
Substitutes
Patrick Bamford – 6
Nice movement but no real chances.
Dan James – 6
A welcome sight to see him return from injury with 15 minutes to go but didn’t get much of the ball.
Isaac Schmidt – 5
Out-jumped in the box late on and lucky Oxford didn’t score.
Josuha Guilavogui – 5
Only came on a few minutes but nearly gave away a penalty.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
