Sunday, 11 March 2012

Leeds Push On As Boro Falter


Neil Warnock claimed his first victory as Leeds United manager, after first half goals from Robert Snodgrass and Luciano Becchio gave his side a deserved 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside. 

Of the back of Tuesday’s win against Barnsley, Boro dared to dream that maybe even an automatic promotion place was possible. But in a game school boy errors and a lacklustre home performance leaves them seven points adrift of second place West Ham with eleven games to go.  

Leeds hadn’t scored since Warnock’s arrival three games ago; however the visitors looked up for the challenge right from the start giving Boro little time on the ball as they pushed for the opener.

But it was Boro who caused their own downfall, as first Joe Bennett was beaten far too easily by Aidan White before his square ball picked out Snodgrass in acres of space, whose side foot shot crawled under Jason Steele to give Leeds the perfect start on 18 minutes.  


After that the home side continued to struggle to find their rhythm, as striker Lukas Jutkiewicz looked isolated up front while Marvin Emnes and Adam Hammill also found difficulty getting involved in the game.

And it was Leeds who doubled their advantage on 27 minutes after a quick break resulted in another basic error, when Justin Hoyte missed his clearance allowing Ross McCormack to cut the ball back to Becchio for an easy tap in. 

Barry Robson came closest to pulling a goal back for Boro, after a quick throw in caught out Leeds unaware, but the Scot’s vicious volley was a comfortable height for Leeds keeper Andy Lonergan keeping his sides advantage at break. 

In the second half Tony Mowbray’s side started to show just why they promotion contenders, as a sharper Boro side injected a quicker tempo to the game. But Mowbray’s men still couldn’t create a clear cut chance, as Rhys Williams’s header rippled the side netting after he wriggled away from his marker. 

Kevin Thompson was stretchered off when he was caught on the head by the swinging boot of Adam Clayton, after only 17 minutes on the pitch. And Boro’s day continued to get worse when Robson was harshly dismissed with a straight red card after reacting to Clayton’s reckless rugby like challenge.   

Leeds held to their fourth clean sheet in three games, when Seb Hines missed a golden chance deep into injury time after Lonergan spilled Hammill’s late effort. The result moves Leeds to within four points off a play-off place. While for Boro it was a missed opportunity to stay in touch with the automatic positions, as they now turn their attention to next weekend’s away trip to Birmingham.         
Match Ratings
Steele   6- Denied McCormack late on should of stopped first goal  
Hoyte   5- Costly mistake gifted second goal
Hines   6- Troubled by Becchio in first half missed sitter late on
Bates (C) 6.5- Made some crucial blocks and tackles
Bennett-   5- At fault for first goal caught out of position a couple of times
Williams   6- Taken off on 63 minutes came close with header in second half left Snodgrass in space for first goal
Bailey   6- Struggled with Leeds pressure early on but improved and trying to get back to his best      
Robson   6.5- As always gave 100% harshly sent off late on
Hammill   6- Difficult afternoon tried his best to create something when he could   
Emnes   5.5- Looked a bit sharper in second half but a quiet day overall   
Jutkiewicz   6- Tried to get involved but shortage of service subbed after 63 minutes
Subs
Thompson   5.5- Determination and bravery resulted in nasty head injury only on the pitch for 17 minutes  
Main   5.5-   Replaced Jutkiewicz only chance tough header going just wide  
Ogbeche   5.5-   Came on with 10 minutes to go added spark to game after scoring in mid-week 


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