The EFL Championship made its grand return at the AESSEAL New York Stadium on Friday night, as a Yorkshire derby took centre stage. Rotherham came into this game managerless, as they parted company with boss Matt Taylor following a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Watford last time out and were in dire need of points.
Leeds, however, were flying under Daniel Farke and looked to put more pressure on Leicester City and Ipswich Town at the top of the Championship with three more points in South Yorkshire.
ROT: Johansson; Bramall, Morrison, Ayala, Peltier; Rathbone, Tiehi, Odoffin; Revan, Onyedinma, Nombe
LEE: Meslier; Gray, Rodon, Cooper, Firpo; Ampadu, Kamara; James, Summerville, Piroe; Rutter
A chilly evening in South Yorkshire saw Leeds on the front foot early on, as Joel Piroe headed just over the bar from a wonderful cross by Dan James, with the effort barely troubling Viktor Johansson in the Rotherham goal.
The visitors looked threatening from the first whistle, and this was solidified when they opened the scoring with an exquisite team move. Glen Kamara received the ball just past the centre circle and played it forward to Ethan Ampadu. The Welshman then found Crysencio Summerville with a brilliant through ball, as the Dutchman raced into the box, cut inside, and found the far corner with a devastating finish.
Embed from Getty ImagesDan James had a glorious chance to double Daniel Farke’s side’s advantage in the 26th minute, only for the Welshman to fire over the bar from a narrow angle.
In what proved to be Rotherham’s first chance of the game, a miscue from Aston Villa loanee Sebastian Revan saw the ball fall to Sam Nombe 12 yards out, but the striker saw his finish float just over the bar.
Crysencio Summerville could have had a second to his name just moments later, but he somehow couldn’t divert past Viktor Johansson from close-range. After another brilliant run from the Dutchman, Glen Kamara could only find the side netting. Joel Piroe then saw his low effort from just outside the box collected comfortably by Johansson.
Leeds were failing to put their chances away, and as a result, Rotherham United struck the equaliser on the brink of half-time. With Daniel Farke’s side failing to clear their lines on the edge of their box, Hakeem Odoffin took matters into his own hands, as he turned and finished brilliantly past Illan Meslier into the bottom corner to level the game at half-time.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe start to the second half was fairly even, with both sides readjusting to the game. Ethan Ampadu, however, had his blushes spared in the 51st minute when he lost the ball inside the Leeds box, leaving Sam Nombe to pounce on it and ready to fire towards the bottom corner, only for Liam Cooper to clear the striker’s effort off the line.
In a bid to secure all three points, Daniel Farke made a triple substitution in the form of Patrick Bamford, Wilfried Gnonto and Ian Poveda, who came on for Georginio Rutter, Junior Firpo and Glen Kamara respectively. In the 74th minute, Farke’s substitutions almost paid dividends as Dan James’s ball in from the right hand side almost found Patrick Bamford in the middle, but the ball flew across the face of goal before landing at the feet of Gnonto, who sent a first time effort into the hands of Viktor Johansson. The Italian then received the ball wonderfully from James just moments later, with his second attempt on goal in the space of a minute flying just over the bar.
Wayne Carlisle’s side then had a great half-chance to take the lead as Fred Onyedinma’s excellent run down the right saw the Luton Town loanee swing the ball in low, forcing a save from Illan Meslier.
Moments after coming on, Pascal Struijk had a huge chance to put Leeds back in front, but the defender steered his header just over the bar.
Fellow Leeds substitute Jaiden Anthony thought he had rescued Leeds all three points in the 89th minute as the winger tapped home from close range, but the linesman’s flag was up against the Bournemouth loanee. Crysencio Summerville’s free kick also flew over the bar in stoppage time.
A credible point for the home side in a game where the visitors largely dominated, but both sides were left to rue the opportunities they didn’t take.
Both sides are back in action in midweek, with Rotherham heading across Yorkshire to take on Hull City on Tuesday, while Leeds host Swansea City the following evening – both kick-off at 7:45pm
