The Premier League is back in sight for Leeds United after Tuesday night’s win over Middlesbrough at The Riverside, with Sheffield United and Burnley dropping points.
A 1-0 win at The Riverside saw Leeds suffer for large periods of the game, something these Leeds players are not used to under Daniel Farke and yet, the Leeds side showed incredible resolve to keep Boro out.
Karl Darlow kept his first clean sheet against Middlesbrough at the eighth time of asking, catching crosses and making an excellent stop to deny Delano Burgzorg. Ethan Ampadu was superb alongside Joe Rodon.
The margin should have been bigger with Leeds having two perfectly good goals ruled out, with Darren Williams criticised by Mark Clattenburg. Josuha Guilavogui came on in injury time to shore up the victory.
Jon Newsome hammers Josuha Guilavogui in harsh verdict
The veteran midfielder replaced Brenden Aaronson on 91 minutes, coming off the bench to make his 16th Leeds appearance and his first outing since starting against Millwall in the 2-0 FA Cup defeat in February.
He helped Leeds see out the final five minutes of injury time with full-time blown in the 96th minute. But, he did not escape criticism with Jon Newsome telling BBC Radio Leeds he is not good enough to start.
“He’s not at this level to play 90 minutes. Great for the last five or 10 minutes to sit on the toes of your centre-backs and win headers. I see Guilavogui’s five or 10-minutes cameos but he can’t play 90 minutes.”
Josuha Guilavogui does not deserve criticism in Leeds role
This is a seven-time France international that has a career which includes Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid and Mainz. He joined Leeds as a free agent to provide cover when Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu were injured.
But this is a player that is more than aware he is going to be back-up and he is simply happy to provide that. Guilavogui’s first interview at Leeds saw him explain that he was there for off the pitch matters, too.
Some experience for such a young squad while being able to play in defence and midfield. Is he good enough to start for Leeds? No. But Guilavogui deserves more credit then Newsome’s take last night.
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