LEEDS UTD 2
1
With second and thirdplaced Norwich and Sheffield United drawing, Klich’s brace extended their lead at the top of the Championship to three points.
Klich had travelling fans dreaming of promotion when he showed great composure to wriggle his way clear in the area and slot home the winner five minutes from time.
Yet, despite the jubilant scenes, head coach Marcelo Bielsa (below) was remaining calm about his side’s chances of promotion.
“It was a necessary win but we still have many games to play and I cannot say we are stable at the top just now,” he said. “Once we got that first goal we felt sure we could go on and get the second.
“We always believed we had the chances in that second half to win the game.
“We didn’t play anything like our best in the first half, and Rotherham were dominant, but our first goal had the positive impact we were hoping for.”
Leeds handed a debut to goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, signed from Real Madrid, but the Spaniard was given a rude awakening to Championship football on 28 minutes when he was picking the ball out of the net.
The hosts have picked up 21 of their 25 points this season on home soil, so it was perhaps no surprise to the home fans to see them break the deadlock.
What would have come as a shock, though, would have been the quality of the strike from Semi Ajayi.
The midfielder let fly from 20 yards with a stunning strike into the top corner that had Casilla clutching at thin air.
The visitors were struggling to find their rhythm as Rotherham, fantastic to a man, pressed and harried their opponents. But Leeds were level with a slice of good fortune six minutes into the second half when Clark Robertson Possession 31% 69% Shots On Target 3 4 Shots Off Target 1 7 Blocked Shots 1 3 Corners 4 5 Fouls Conceded 16 13 Offsides 0 2 Yellow Cards 1 2 Red Cards 0 0
Mateusz Klich. Scored two second-half goals to earn Leeds a crucial victory in the race for promotion. REFEREE: Tim Robinson 7.