Leeds United restored the five-point gap between themselves and the Championship’s play-offs with a comfortable 2-0 win over Coventry City, to the despair of Frank Lampard.
Spygate rival Frank Lampard has made an excellent start to life at Coventry, winning five on the bounce as Leeds came to town. Leeds themselves had not suffered defeat in 13, beating Cardiff 7-0 last time out.
Leeds secured a comfortable win thanks to two first-half goals from Joel Piroe and Jayden Bogle. But in truth, it should have been a whole lot more as Coventry pushed more men forward in the second half.
Piroe opened the scoring after a mistake from Ellis Simms saw Solomon play in Piroe to net his 13th goal of the season. Bogle netted his fourth after continuing a run and capitalising on Oliver Dovin’s mistake.
Leeds fans delighted with Illan Meslier after Coventry win
But Leeds could have easily conceded, too. Meslier remains under-fire from Leeds supporters but the Frenchman has put the fire out of late, securing four consecutive clean sheets before going to Coventry.
At the CBS Arena, Meslier made it five from five but the Frenchman was tested on a number of occasions – mostly, when Simms arrowed a header towards the bottom corner, only for Meslier to push it to safety.
A brilliant save that earned praise from Leeds fans on social media, with many putting aside prior criticism to applaud their goalkeeper after another clean sheet – his 19th clean sheet in 31 Championship games.
Meslier had found himself at the centre of criticism from Leeds fans after being at fault for two or three of Hull’s three goals, when Hull came from 3-1 down to draw with Leeds. But on Wednesday, he was superb.
One fan said his save from Simms was “unbelievable”, but went on to say that’s the “frustrating” thing with him. Capable of doing something excellent, but also guilty of being culpable to the odd blunder.
Perhaps tongue in cheek but not a million miles away with his claim, one Leeds fan described Meslier as the “best keeper in the league”. Another said he made a “brilliant save” and deserves “total credit”.
Another paid tribute to Meslier with a bit of a backhanded compliment, saying he “finally realised he is a goalkeeper tonight”. Meslier is proving Daniel Farke right to defend him following the 3-3 Hull draw.
How the Championship table looks after Leeds beat Coventry…
If you are a Leeds fan and you most likely are if you are reading this, it’s looking good. Leeds are now five clear of Sheffield United and Burnley, and a massive eight ahead of fourth-placed Sunderland on 58.
A huge 66 points from 31 Championship games. Carlton Palmer said Leeds needed 30 points from the remaining 48 before kick-off – so judging by that, that’s nine wins from the remaining 15 league games.
| Position | GP | Wins | Draws | Losses | GD | Points |
| 1. Leeds United | 31 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 43 | 66 |
| 2. Burnley | 31 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 28 | 61 |
| 3. Sheffield United | 30 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 61 |
| 4. Sunderland | 30 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 19 | 58 |
A brilliant result for Leeds against a side that could have easily taken points off The Whites. Next up then, is Millwall in The FA Cup on Saturday before Championship action resumes at Watford next Tuesday.
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