Lucas Perri helped fire Leeds to victory in his fourth Premier League appearance of the campaign on Friday night against West Ham.
The Brazilian missed the 2-0 defeat at Burnley due to an arm injury, but replaced Karl Darlow for the visit of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to good effect as he helped Daniel Farke seal a 2-1 win at Elland Road with two saves and one high claim.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 11 |  Aston VillaAston Villa | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 12 |  EvertonEverton | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 |  LeedsLeeds | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 11 |
| 14 |  BrentfordBrentford | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 10 |
It clearly meant a lot to Lucas Perri as Leeds returned to winning ways, as fan footage shows.
Lucas Perri shows plenty of emotion with passionate celebration
The South American has not been involved in a win at Elland Road since the 1-0 victory over Everton in the opening game, and he let it all out after Stuart Attwell sounded the final whistle.
As you can see, Perri – who concerned Jamie Carragher – enjoyed a moment with the Leeds fans behind his goal when going to collect his towel and bottle after the game, manically screaming and shaking his fists to show just how much the win means to him.
It is the sort of act which will quickly endear the 27-year-old to his new fanbase following a £13.9m move from Lyon in July.
Karl Darlow will need to bide his time
Darlow held his own in his five Premier League appearances while Perri was injured, helping Leeds to a 3-1 win over Wolves and an impressive 2-2 draw against Bournemouth.
However, the Wales international now looks set for a spell on the bench.
Farke confirmed Perri is his No.1 when speaking before the win over West Ham, admitting:“ Yes. First of all, I have to say that we all love Karl Darlow and he’s always solid, always reliable. Never cracks under pressure when we need him, done a really solid job in recent weeks when we needed him.
“But, we also make no secret that we’ve signed Lucas Perri as No.1 and right now, he’s done three and a half weeks back in team training and also a full week with all the national team players back now, and for that, it was a straightforward decision that he would be back.”
It could be perceived as a ruthless call from the German, but when you consider the fact Darlow is now 35 and sees his contract expire in July, it makes sense for Farke to put his faith in Perri.
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