Oxford manager Gary Rowett forced to admit one Leeds United star was ‘outstanding’ in his side’s defeat

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Gary Rowett has admitted one Leeds United player was ‘outstanding’ as his Oxford United side were defeated on Friday night.

Leeds United won a third straight game on Good Friday as they picked up another vital victory in the race for promotion, defeating Oxford United 1-0.

With Burnley and Sheffield United winning earlier in the day, Daniel Farke’s side couldn’t afford a slip-up and it was far from easy at the Kassam Stadium.

Oxford took the game to the travelling Whites early on but Leeds eventually took control and found the decisive goal when Jayden Bogle’s cross was turned in by Manor Solomon.

Despite dominating the game, Leeds couldn’t find a second which made for another nervewracking closing stretch as Oxford pressed for a leveller.

Thankfully, Joe Rodon was on hand to clear all the danger and Gary Rowett has praised the defender’s performance.

Gary Rowett labels Joe Rodon ‘outstanding’

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Rowett praised Leeds for how well they defended Oxford’s late bombardment of their box, with Rodon coming in for particular admiration.

“I felt it would have been really easy at that point to then end up conceding more opportunities,” he said about his side going behind. “But I thought we hung in there.

“I’ve got to say, second half, we put them under pressure, we pressed them, we’ve done everything we can to get balls into good areas and I’d say we’ve made Leeds have to defend for their lives.

“I thought they did that. I thought they defended the box really, really well. I thought Rodon was outstanding in that sense.

“We tried to load the box but I felt they dealt with it pretty well.”

Not only was Rodon a rock at the back, as Ao Tanaka’s hilarious praise for him at full-time proved, but he was excellent in possession as well.

It was the Welshman’s defence-splitting pass for an onrushing Bogle that allowed the right-back to tee up Solomon’s strike.

Jobi McAnuff hails Leeds’ gritty performance

It was a hard-earned win for Leeds and Jobi McAnuff believes it was the type of ‘important’ performance that teams need to do to secure promotion.

He said on Sky Sports punditry duty after the game: “It’s something we talk about every season with every team that gets promoted.

“They’re a fantastic footballing team, they score goals, they play football in the right manner.

“But actually, when push comes to shove, can you go to the likes of these grounds tonight and get a result and dig it out at times where it’s not quite the fast, free-flowing football?

“I questioned Leeds a few weeks ago, Sheffield United were digging results out without particularly playing very well.

“What Leeds United have done tonight, although they were fairly comfortable, it wasn’t the best performance in the world but they were solid, hard to beat, they understood what they needed to do and they found a way to win a game of football.

“At this stage of the season, that is the most important thing.”