CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH ACTION
Leeds star back to deny Swans win
PABLO HERNANDEZ came back to haunt his former side Swansea and send Leeds to the top of the Championship.
Oli McBurnie looked to have derailed Marcelo Bielsa’s dream start with a devastating double.
The 22-year-old toe-poked the opener before straining his neck to head Swansea back in front after Kemar Roofe’s equaliser.
But Hernandez seized on lazy defending to silence his former fans and put Leeds top on goal difference.
Bielsa almost took over as Swansea boss from Garry Monk in 2015.
Reshuffle
A deal could not be reached and last night he brought his high-flying Leeds to South Wales following wins over Derby, Stoke and Rotherham.
Bielsa was forced into a late reshuffle at the back after skipper Liam Cooper went down in the warm-up.
Luke Ayling moved into the centre of defence and 18-year-old Jamie Shackleton came in for his first league start.
The makeshift defence endured a nervy 20 minutes, and they cracked following a clinical Swans counter-attack.
Captain Leroy Fer battled to win the ball back in midfield before McBurnie set Barrie McKay one-on-one with Gaetano Berardi. The flying winger gave Bersant Celina a clear shooting opportunity, but the Kosovo international cut the ball back for the onrushing McBurnie to toe-poke under Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Berardi came close to grabbing an equaliser when he headed Barry Douglas’s cross inches over the bar.
But it was Leeds teenage talent Shackleton who hauled them level before half-time.
The right-back left Martin Olsson in his wake and played an inch-perfect ball across the face of goal to give Roofe a simple finish.
The Swans soared back in the ascendancy five minutes into the second half thanks to Scottish hot-shot McBurnie.
Olsson atoned for his defensive lapse by driving to the byline and crossing for the striker to send a looping header over the Leeds goalkeeper and into the net.
But some sloppy Swansea defending allowed Leeds to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Substitute Patrick Bamford went past Mike van der Hoorn and when Joe Rodon miscued his clearance, Hernandez was there to smash in the equaliser.