Midweek football in the EFL Championship saw Stoke City travel to Elland Road to take on Daniel Farke’s high-flying Leeds United who are unbeaten in the league in 2024. The Whites were held to a 1-1 draw against Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town at the weekend, whilst Stoke were coming into the game off the back of a home victory over Middlesbrough.
LEE: Meslier; Roberts, Rodon, Ampadu, Byram; Gruev, Kamara; James, Rutter, Summerville; Bamford
STO: Iversen; Hoever, Rose, Wilmot, Gooch; Laurent, Burger, Baker; Manhoef, Ennis, Bae
Connor Roberts made his first league start in a Leeds shirt as Archie Gray dropped to the bench with Stoke naming an unchanged starting line-up from the side that beat North Yorkshire opposition Middlesbrough at the weekend.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe promotion-chasing Whites began the game strong, dominating straight from the whistle and they were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty at 11-minutes as Daniel Iversen lost possession of the ball and clumsily brought Dan James down, but the appeals were to no avail.
Stoke’s chance in the 18th minute was off target as the ball whipped in from former Leeds loan midfielder Lewis Baker, was headed over by Ki-Jana However with Leeds then back on the attack themselves as Joe Rodon sent Connor Roberts down the wing, but the Welsh defender’s low cross was intercepted as the visitors conceded a corner that they managed to head away at 20-minutes with no damage having been done.
Two big chances for Leeds to open the scoring came at 25-minutes as Georginio Rutter played a perfect through-ball to Patrick Bamford who watched as his low effort from a narrow angle forced a diving save from Iversen, before the Frenchman had an opportunity of his own, but he headed Roberts’ cross just over the bar and the score remained level.
Three minutes later, Iversen denied James on two occasions as the winger raced through on goal, one-on-one with the Danish keeper, but the latter managed to deny his strike – however, it wasn’t long before the 26-year-old found his way past the Stoke keeper. James linked up with Georginio Rutter near the right-hand side of the penalty area before firing into the far corner of the net with a strike from the edge of the box that was helped on by a deflection off Stoke defender Ben Wilmot.
Embed from Getty ImagesLooking to quickly respond, the Potters were testing Meslier in net at the other end of the pitch at 39-minutes as the Frenchman was called into action to deny Lewis Baker’s effort from 30-yards out.
Having won a free kick in the 42nd minute, Leeds were eager to double their advantage before the interval with James choosing to play the ball low to Bamford as opposed to shooting, but the striker’s deflected effort was saved and the half-time whistle was blown.
The Whites had to withstand some pressure from the visitors inside Elland Road after the restart with Meslier producing the crucial saves at the back to maintain his side’s one-goal advantage. Leeds have only conceded three goals in 2024 and have now kept eight clean sheets.
Meslier denied Baker once more before preventing second-half substitution Tyrese Campbell from getting on the scoresheet – the winger had done well to work room for a shot, but he couldn’t slip it past the man in net for the Whites.
Despite the pressure from the Potters, Leeds threatened on the counter-attack and looked particularly dangerous after the introductions of Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph in the 71st minute. Having only been on the pitch for three minutes, Leeds United youngster Mateo Joseph found himself with the perfect opportunity to continue riding the high of his recent success at Stamford Bridge as the ball fell to him with the 20-year-old able to round Iversen and break through on goal, only to be denied by Ben Wilmot’s goal-line clearance.
At 76-minutes, another product of the Leeds United academy Crysencio Summerville worked his way into the box, but Iversen came out to make the save with Dan James unable to reach the rebound and add to his tally.
Into the final ten minutes in LS11, the Whites continued to be the more threatening side with the closest of the chances in their favour. Mateo Joseph was so close again to finding the back of the net when he made space down the right to get his shot off at 85-minutes, only for his effort to bend just wide as the score remained 1-0.
Embed from Getty ImagesBen Pearson, who had only been introduced to the game in the 54th minute, received a second yellow card at 86-minutes for a bookable offence that saw him commit an off-the-ball shove on Leeds’ goalscorer Dan James and resulted in the referee pulling out the red card.
Stoke’s hopes of clawing their way back into the game and searching for an equalising goal to earn what would be a crucial point in their fight for survival, were dismissed as they were set to play the final three minutes plus any additional time with only ten players; the positive that Stoke could take from the final minutes of the game was that they did not concede despite Leeds having the player advantage.
The Whites were successful at Elland Road in the Championship once again, securing another important three points as they achieved their 10th win in 11 league matches.
