A relentless Leeds United side came from a goal behind on Sunday afternoon to win 3-1 at title contenders Leicester City.
The Peacocks looked back to their best, in particular striker Patrick Bamford. The frontman produced a flawless display, assisting two strikes as well as firing in his own goal of the season contender.
But it was the hosts who opened the scoring on 13 minutes. Leicester City’s Harvey Barnes drove inside the pitch after receiving the ball from James Justin. The inverted winger combined with James Maddison to slot the ball into the bottom left corner. The interplay between Maddison and Barnes was delightful and Barnes still had a lot to do, taking two instinctive touches to set himself up for the strike.
Leeds United showed great character after going behind. Marcelo Bielsa’s side responded instantly, equalising through Stuart Dallas on the 15th-minute mark. A lethargic pass from Maddison was cut out by Luke Ayling. The Leeds defender drove with the ball and found Bamford in a pocket of space. The ball was slid into Dallas’ path to finish superbly towards Kasper Schmeichel’s right – in what was a similar finish to Barnes a matter of minutes before.
It was a frantic 10 minutes of play for both sides, but thoroughly entertaining for a neutral viewer. Leicester’s Ayoze Perez thought he had put his side back in front moments later, but he was deemed offside by Sian Massey. It was a fantastic call from the linesperson.
But from then on, Leeds were the more threatening side. Schmeichel was called into action twice in two minutes to keep his team level. The Denmark international will be in contention for save of the season after clawing out a Bamford header. The rebound was put in the back of the net by Mateusz Klich but the Pole was flagged offside.
The goalkeeper was soon called into action again to deny Raphinha down low this time.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers changed personnel at half-time. The Foxes fell below their standards in the opening 45 minutes, so Rodgers felt obliged to bring on Caglar Soyuncu for Marc Albrighton. The Foxes went to a back three with Justin and Ricardo Pereira acting as wing-backs. Albrighton was one of the standout performers for the Foxes in the first half so it was presumably a tactical switch to restrict the threat of Raphinha and Jack Harrison. However, it didn’t really go to plan.
After 70 minutes, it was advantage Leeds United. Raphinha played a mouth-watering pass in Bamford’s path. The striker let the ball roll across his body before unleashing a thunderous effort. The 27-year-old was four games without a goal, but his drought was well worth it for this one. He didn’t look up at the goal once before picking out the top right stanchion.
It was a wake-up call for the Foxes, who had been extremely lethargic throughout the entire match and soon came close to equalising.
Leeds switched off at the back post from a Maddison free-kick in the 73rd minute. Kalvin Phillips lost Perez at the back post. The Spaniard put the ball back across goal, finding Wesley Fofana, but the centre back’s effort was deflected over the bar. The following corner from Maddison was headed on by Soyuncu. Jonny Evans found himself in the perfect position but it was the wrong man at the right time as the Northern Irishman sliced the ball wide from one yard out. It was the definition of a golden opportunity.
In the 86th minute, Harrison confirmed all three points for the visitors as Leeds exploited Leicester on the counter-attack. Maddison’s free-kick for the hosts was headed clear by Pascal Struijk. The transition of Leeds was sharp, with the ball being played over the top to Bamford who raced clear of the Leicester defence. With only the goalkeeper to beat he unselfishly played the ball across the box for Harrison to tap into an empty net. It was the least Leeds deserved from this afternoon’s performance.
Bielsa will be delighted with Bamford and Co as his team secured revenge against Leicester City, having lost the reverse fixture 4-1 at home on November 2, with Leeds looking back to their best too.
The result sees the visitors go to 12th in the top flight with a game in hand.
For Leicester, they remain in the top three but Rodgers will be disappointed having missed out on going second in the table.
By Ben Haywood
