There is something to be said for the professional performance, the slightly gritty edge to a win in a promotion race.
They are rarely the games to leave fans feeling misty-eyed, but those wins are just as important as the rest and they can often be useful for spotting the finer details in a team’s makeup.
Tuesday night’s hard-fought win over relegation-threatened Stoke City performed exactly that role, with a 1-0 victory for Daniel Farke’s side extending their unbeaten run at home to 18 league games (14 wins and four draws).
Among the talking points for nervous Leeds fans at the end were the impact of 20-year-old Mateo Joseph from the bench, the crucial saves of Illan Meslier as Stoke ramped up the pressure, and how worrying it was that the win felt so laboured. This is a demanding period and tired performances are inevitable.
Fresh ideas and fresher legs came in the form of Connor Roberts, handed his full league debut at right-back as 17-year-old sensation Archie Gray was given a rest on the bench after 10 successive league starts. After a steady introduction to the side with five appearances from the bench and a first start against Chelsea in the FA Cup last week, the Burnley loanee offered something different as an experienced and natural right-back with more than 300 senior games behind him.
As Leeds dominated the first half, he made surging runs forward on the overlap around Wales team-mate Dan James but also inside, flooding the box to overwhelm a floundering Stoke. In glaring green boots, Roberts, 28, attacked in a more traditional sense than Gray, a central midfielder used to great effect at right-back, hitting the channel and delivering crosses from wicked angles as Leeds had joy down the flanks.
Among Roberts’ tempting crosses was an effort headed over by Georginio Rutter as Leeds moved through the gears before finally finding relief in James’ goal. His twisting and turning before a low finish, aided by a deflection off Ben Wilmot, proved to be the difference and ensured Leeds maintained their record as the only Championship team to remain unbeaten when scoring first.
James and Roberts’ partnership was not one-way, with the former finding the latter in advanced positions as much as Roberts fed James up the line (see pass map below with Roberts’ passes to James in red and James’ to Roberts in blue). Roberts’ two chances created in the course of the match were a good contribution given the change of momentum in the second half that saw him pinned back much more.
As Stoke grew into the game and benefited from early second-half substitutions by manager Steven Schumacher, the brief changed for Leeds and Roberts.
The performance no longer became about taking a team to the sword in attack. Instead, it felt like a battle to protect what they had. In truth, they should have scored more when they were creating chances. The intensity of the first half — driven by fast restarts after their research on Stoke pointed to their struggles in adapting quickly to fast throws or goal kicks — no longer suited the game.
As shown in the graphics below, in the opening 45 minutes, Roberts managed to make more touches in the attacking half…
… but in the second half, Leeds’ drop in intensity is reflected by how Roberts was pinned back…
His performance was a good account of what an experienced player can add to an otherwise young team exemplified by his show of frustration towards Meslier, 24, for taking an aimless kick up field out of his hands rather than ensuring Leeds retained possession as Stoke pushed for an equaliser.
Gray has shown what he has to offer in defence and midfield and the good news for Leeds is that Roberts’ arrival brings more flexibility for the 17-year-old, who excelled in his favoured midfield position in the 3-2 FA Cup defeat to Chelsea.
When Roberts signed on loan until the end of the season in January, Leeds did not make him firm promises about minutes. They knew they needed an extra right-back but were unwilling to compromise Gray’s minutes to any great extent. The tiredness on show at the full-time whistle, with muted celebrations from Leeds players and a feeling of relief rather than jubilation, proves that both will be needed in this tough run-in.
Seeing out the worst of the Stoke danger, with the added jeopardy of playing 10 men after the weekend’s struggles in similar circumstances against Huddersfield Town, once Ben Pearson was sent off, is another sign this Leeds side can go the distance in the title race. With Ipswich Town coming from behind twice to secure a 3-2 win over Bristol City on the same night, these are the wins that matter, as reflected by boss Farke’s belief that this was the “best win of 2024”.
“Everyone expects us to win this home game,” he said. “I’m happy with the first half, we needed 15 or 20 minutes to get going and then we were all over them. Second half we opted too much to wait for the transition moment. When we had the ball we did not control the game because we were too greedy to go for the next attack, a basketball game. We kept going for transitions and it caused some nerves in the end, but we return with a clean sheet.
“It was not our best second half, but these hard-fought wins are what bring you into a top position.”
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
