Sitting pretty at the top of the Championship table, Leeds United look good once again for automatic promotion back to the Premier League under Daniel Farke.
Tuesday night saw Leeds put an end to a run of bad form which had seen Daniel Farke’s men draw three games in a row. Dan James’ early goal was enough, even if Leeds had two goals disallowed unfairly.
Below, we look at three winners from the victory over Michael Carrick’s play-off chasing side, but also the three losers that have come out of the game worse than going into the 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.
Three winners from Leeds United’s win over Middlesbrough
Patrick Bamford
Wow, not many will have predicted Bamford to come back from injury and look this sharp. The one-time England man made his return at Luton after suffering a hamstring injury against Blackburn on January 1.
A decent outing at Luton was followed by a real leader’s cameo role against Boro. Holding it up, fighting, dictating defenders and scoring a perfectly good goal – only to have it disallowed. A real tick in his book.
Ilia Gruev
They say the best holding midfielders go about their business without anyone really noticing. That’s what happened on Tuesday night, given it is actually quite hard to remember anything Gruev really did.
Leeds fans wanted Max Wober to replace Pascal Struijk to keep Ethan Ampadu in midfield before the win. But actually, Gruev came in and provided a shield in front of the Leeds defence, proving to be crucial.
Willy Gnonto
Gnonto was unfairly dropped from the starting XI for Boro having struggled at Luton. But when he came on, he was electric and should have had an assist for Bamford’s goal – a superb assist for the striker.
The Italian is now more than likely to start against Preston, with Daniel Farke confirming Dan James’ had suffered a hamstring injury and it “doesn’t look good”. It makes it a very worthwhile night for Gnonto.
Three losers from Leeds United’s win over Middlesbrough
Pascal Struijk
Struijk has picked up a foot injury and will definitely be out this week, missing Saturday’s game against Preston and last night’s win. Scans will show if Struijk is out for the rest of the season, or just Saturday.
But with Struijk absent, Leeds looked incredibly solid defensively. Farke described Ampadu returning alongside Joe Rodon as “The Welsh Wall” and they stifled Boro. Ampadu is better than Struijk, in defence.
Joel Piroe
Seven games now, that Piroe has failed to score or lay on an assist. That is despite doing it 21 times in the first 34 Championship games of the season. The £16m man is struggling to get involved or add to Leeds.
He did have one chance, turning the defender well but ran out of room in front of Mark Travers who was on hand to smother his shot. Bamford’s fitness may keep Piroe in the XI, but he is in danger of the axe.
Illan Meslier
With Karl Darlow coming in for Meslier, the chances are that Meslier will remain on the bench for the last five games. That was probably the plan anyway, though Meslier might have hoped for a return to the XI.
Well, Darlow’s performance on Tuesday night. FotMob gave Darlow a rating of 7.8, joint-first for Leeds as Darlow kept his first career clean sheet against Middlesbrough. Confident from crosses, and one big save.
Six years after initially joining Leeds on loan, £5m signing Meslier will now find his future is in doubt if he did not already think so. The Frenchman is about to enter the final 12 months of his Elland Road contract.
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