It is now 14 games unbeaten in all competitions for Leeds United as Daniel Farke’s strengthened their position at the top of the Championship, wih a 2-0 win over Coventry City.
Goals from Joel Piroe and Jayden Bogle saw Leeds win for the 19th time in the league in their 31st game of the season. Leeds sit five clear of Sheffield United and Burnley at the top of the Championship table.
Sheffield United have a game in hand, with Leeds’ trip to Coventry moved forward given Leeds are in FA Cup action on the weekend against Millwall. The scoreline however, does not tell the whole story.
Leeds could have scored five or six after netting seven against Cardiff City on the weekend. But the likes of Piroe, Brenden Aaronson and Dan James missed chances, while Illan Meslier made a couple of saves.
Stuart Dallas heaps praise on Illan Meslier after Coventry win
Meslier had little to do throughout before he was called upon in the second half, when Ellis Simms aimed a header at the bottom corner. Somehow, Meslier finger-tipped the header to safety at full stretch.
Meslier also made a top save late on, tipping an effort onto the bar to secure a sixth consecutive clean sheet for Leeds – five of which, are Meslier’s. It comes after some criticism and Stuart Dallas praised him.
Speaking to LUTV’s Matchday Live, Dallas said: “Another clean sheet, two huge saves from Illan. He didn’t have much to do other than the two, but it just shows that you’ve got to say focused in the big moments.
“The first save is absolutely incredible. Let’s give him the credit he is due because he suffered after those mistakes, he came in for a lot of criticism. But those saves, incredible. Save of the season,” Dallas added.
Illan Meslier’s Championship save percentage is slowly on the rise
Back in November, Meslier had a save percentage of less than 65% and was the 18th-best goalkeeper in the Championship in terms of the statistic. Fast forward until now, and Meslier is a lot higher in the stats.
| Name | Club | Games | Goals conceded | Clean sheets | Save percentage |
| 1. James Trafford | Burnley | 30 | 9 | 21 | 86.8% |
| 2. Michael Cooper | Sheff Utd | 28 | 19 | 16 | 77.6% |
| 3. Aynsley Pears | Blackburn | 30 | 29 | 11 | 76.6% |
| 4. Viktor Johansson | Stoke | 30 | 37 | 9 | 75.8% |
| 5. Alex Palmer | West Brom (now Ipswich) | 30 | 27 | 11 | 74.3% |
| – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8. Illan Meslier | Leeds | 31 | 19 | 19 | 70.3% |
Meslier is improving, keeping five clean sheets in a row since Daniel Farke defended Meslier after the 3-3 draw against Hull. Certainly, Farke was delighted with Meslier following Wednesday’s win at Coventry.
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