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.
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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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