Leeds United secured their fifth Championship win in a row with a 1-0 victory at Bristol City last night.
Leeds were dominant throughout and could’ve won by four or five had they been more clinical in front of goal, but it was Willy Gnonto’s strike just after half-time that was the difference between the two sides.
Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter and Glen Kamara were all guilty of missing big opportunities and so in the latter stages, when Bristol City threw a few men forward, Leeds had to hold firm at the back to see out the three points.
Joe Rodon was particularly crucial to that with a superb defensive header inside his own six-yard box after Jason Knight had stood up a really good cross to the back post.
The 26-year-old has been impeccable for Leeds and speaking on Sky Sports before the match, Troy Deeney believes he has really ‘grown’ into a confident centre-back since moving to Elland Road.
Deeney hails Rodon improvement at Leeds
He said: “I feel like he has grown up and what I mean by that is, I think he has physically come into himself – bigger, stronger. A big part of my game was to rough centre-halves up so when I played against him he was a bit younger and naïve.
“He has been really good, on the ball. But now adding that steel to his game, know-how, has all come with experience. These things he wasn’t doing 18 months ago. You can see now he’s backing himself, which wasn’t there before. He’s a very good player.”
Rodon just continues to get better and better for Leeds and alongside Ethan Ampadu, he really led by example at the back last night.
Daniel Farke has already confirmed Leeds are working behind-the-scenes to sign Rodon permanently and if that was to happen, it would be a fantastic piece of business.
The 26-year-old seems to be praised for his performances after every single match and surely there haven’t been many, if any, better centre-backs than him in the division this season.
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