Leeds United made it eight Championship wins in a row with a hard fought victory at Plymouth Argyle.
The Whites were far from their best today but were still able to come away with a strong 2-0 success away at a side who have not lost in nine matches on home soil.
Willy Gnonto continued his fine recent run of form by opening the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes, before Georginio Rutter rounded off proceedings just past the midway point of the second half.
Leeds started the game in electric fashion but for 40 minutes either side of the half-time break, they really struggled to keep possession and sustain attacks, allowing Plymouth to find a foot hold in the game.
A lot of that was down to Leeds’ in ability to make the ball stick in the final third, with Rutter guilty on several occasions of losing it in that number 10 position. He actually lost possession 25 times in total.
Farke tactical switch a masterpiece
Amid Rutter’s struggles to keep the ball in that middle third of the pitch, Daniel Farke opted to switch the 21-year-old and Joel Piroe around. That was a decision which proved genius.
Piroe was far cleaner in his back-to-goal play and shortly before Rutter’s goal, Leeds had started to find their feet in the game again.
In fact, it was actually Piroe who provided a really nice assist for Rutter to go and put the game to bed. The 24-year-old is usually the one on the end of those passes, but today he was the provider.
One minor criticism of Farke this season has been his reluctance to change things tactically within matches, but that can certainly not be levelled at him today, and it has won Leeds the game.
Leeds now enter next week’s huge clash with Leicester City on the back of eight wins in a row, making it a real mouth-watering clash under the lights at Elland Road.
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