Relieved Farke has Ell of a go
DOUBLE ACT: ............................ 2 James 37, Piroe 53 .................. 1
BRISTOL CITY
TOUGH taskmaster Daniel Farke complained about Leeds’ “unbelievable’’ wastefulness as they moved up to fifth in the Championship.
The promotion-chasing Whites made it back-to-back victories for the first time in almost a year.
Winger Dan James netted a 37th-minute opener but Bristol City defender Kal Naismith came up with a surprise equaliser right on half-time, before Joel Piroe restored Leeds’ advantage eight minutes after the break.
Boss Farke said: “I’m very happy with the three points – we created so many chances against a rock-solid side. The only thing I need to criticise is we should have buried the game at half-time. I had to calm myself down, I was so annoyed.
“We missed an unbelievable amount of chances. There were just five seconds to go in the first half and we conceded to a sucker punch.’’
Georginio Rutter was guilty of one of the misses of the season in the 11th minute when he spooned the ball over an open goal from around three yards after Crysencio Summerville sent in a right-wing cross.
But Leeds went ahead when the stumbling Rutter somehow dragged the ball across from the right and James raced in for his first goal of the season.
City stunned the Elland Road crowd when Taylor Gardnerhickman hoisted over a left-wing corner and Naismith glanced in.
But Piroe received Glen Kamara’s pass and threaded a shot through Naismith’s legs.
City No.2 Curtis Fleming said: “It was a missed opportunity. Leeds are a good side. We just didn’t trouble them as much as much as we would have wanted.’’ LEEDS: Meslier 6; Gray 7, Rodon 6, Struijk 6, Byram 7; Ampadu 8, Kamara 7 (Ayling (90) 5); James 7 (Anthony (78) 5), Piroe 7 (Gruev (90) 5), Summerville 7 (Cooper (90) 5); Rutter 7 (Bamford (82) 5) BRISTOL CITY: O’leary 6; Gardner-hickman 6 (Conway (59) 5), Dickie 6, Naismith 7, Pring 5; James 6, Knight 5 (Weimann (67) 5), Williams 5 (King (59) 5); Sykes 6, Wells 5 (Cornick (30) 6), Bell 5 (Mehmeti (67) 5) STAR MAN: Ethan Ampadu – A composed and mature performance from Leeds’ young midfield anchor. REF: Keith Stroud 6