Bielsa delighted his boys are showing bottle for the battle
LEEDS manager Marcelo Bielsa praised the battling qualities of his team as they beat Luton with a last-gasp winner.
A late Matt Pearson own goal put the Yorkshire side second behind West Bromwich Albion.
Bielsa felt that his side deserved the victory at soggy Kenilworth Road, even with the late winner.
He said: “The result was fair.
“In the first half it was more easy for us but in the second half we had to fight a little bit more.
“As usual it’s difficult to win.
“If you don’t fight then you don’t have a good condition to play.
“If you want to win then you have to fight.
“We fought very, very well and that allowed us to play well.
“After the first goal, we had chances to score the second one.
“After we scored the second goal, we had two more clear chances.”
Jack Harrison forced Luton keeper James Shea to collect a cross in the 15th minute.
Bamford then beat the offside trap but his effort struck the post in the 32nd minute, while keeper Shea made an excellent double block immediately afterwards – first he saved from Kalvin Phillips, then denied a Harrison follow-up.
The stopper was called into action again in the 42nd minute when he turned an effort from Tyler Roberts around the post – after his shot had taken a wicked deflection.
But Luton’s hero was finally beaten seven minutes after the restart when Bamford broke to slot home.
However, the home fans were enraged after they felt they should have had a free-kick just before the opener when Izzy Brown appeared to be upended.
But the hosts hit back in a flash and in the 54th minute James Collins headed in the equaliser.
But with the Hatters looking to hold on, Leeds broke the hearts of home fans.
Bamford bundled home a low cross by Mateusz Klich past Shea just before injury time with the ball hitting Matt Pearson on the way in.
Luton manager Graeme Jones claimed play should have been stopped for the foul on Brown in the build-up to the first.
He said “I try to be fair and objective.
“I have watched the clips back. It was a clear foul on Izzy – he’s taken his legs away from him.
“The gulf is already big enough so when key decisions like that don’t go for you it’s tough to swallow.
“You have to give a lot of credit for the performance they produced.
“But we need to start turning these performances into results at some stage.
“Leeds are the best team in the league. They really can just cut through you.
A MOMENT of magic from Riyad Mahrez got Man City back on track with their 400th Premier League win – but no nearer to leaders Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola’s side climbed above Chelsea into third with this hard-fought victory but still trail Jurgen Klopp’s runaway leaders by nine points – just as they started the day. Back-to-back champions City have been applauded for their sublime football over the past two seasons but here it was their collective character and resolve that saw them deliver a much-needed win.
After their 3-1 defeat at Liverpool before the international break, the pressure was on Guardiola and his players to get back to winning ways and show they will not relinquish their title without a fight.
And after going behind, they did just that, goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Mahrez, with sublime individual brilliance, sealing the victory and condemning Chelsea to a first Premier League defeat since September 22.
City’s pursuit of Liverpool may look forlorn, with Klopp’s side – on a 30-game unbeaten run in the league – relentless in their pursuit of a first title for 30 years but Guardiola and his players are not going to go quietly and raise the white flag just yet.
Chelsea suffered a humiliating 6-0 defeat on their last visit to The Etihad Stadium in February, but this encounter was never likely to be so one-sided, given the progress