Daniel Farke made the surprise decision to bring in four new players into his starting line-up on Sunday evening as the German rejigged his Leeds United attack against Derby County.
Leeds cruised past Stoke City on Boxing Day thanks to a Joel Piroe brace but Farke decided to take the Dutchman out of his starting line-up, along with Manor Solomon, Dan James and Joe Rothwell.
In came Mateo Joseph, Largie Ramazani and Wilfried Gnonto while Ao Tanaka partnered Ethan Ampadu in midfield. Ultimately, the changes did not work and it was not until Farke made some subs at Derby.
Then, Leeds stretched the game. Having only had a couple of glimmers of goal in the first 70 minutes, Solomon played James through on goal and he should have scored. Then, the game-changing moment.
Leeds fans not impressed with Largie Ramazani display on Sunday
A well-worked goal saw the ball played into Piroe, who cushioned a gorgeous pass into the on-rushing Brenden Aaronson to tuck home his seventh of the season. A gorgeous goal, that proved to be enough.
But it came after 70 minutes of frustration in which Gnonto, Ramazani and Joseph worked hard and tried to make things happen – but fail to make an impact. It was the subs that eventually produced the winner.
Leeds fans took to social media during the game and after the match, discussing £10m signing Ramazani after he was handed his first start since October, in which he came off injured in the 2-1 win v Watford.
The feeling among the Leeds fanbase was not a good one in regards to Ramazani, with many expecting big things from the Belgian pre-match, only to be disappointed. One posted: “He looked well off it”.
Another was delighted to see Ramazani taken off on 70 minutes, saying Leeds “needed that change” and Ramazani had been “shocking”. Another simply said that Ramazani “hasn’t been great” on the night.
A Leeds fans rated his performance, describing Ramazani as a “3 out of 10”, and had the same thing to say about Gnonto. Another said Ramazani had done “nothing to warrant a starting place in the team”.
Where do Leeds now sit in the Championship table after win?
It’s a brilliant round of results for Leeds. Earlier in the day, The Whites watched on as Sheffield United were held to a 1-1 draw by West Brom despite the loss of Marcelo Bielsa’s old assistant Carlos Corberan.
Sunderland were expected to go to Stoke and beat them, but they suffered a 1-0 loss with on-loan star Tom Cannon scoring the only goal of the game. It sees Leeds clock up a 15th win from 24 league games.
Not only that, but a 14th clean sheet and a fifth win in six matches. Leeds are now two points clear thanks to Aaronson’s winner, with Middlesbrough and Burnley in action later on Sunday evening.
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