Leeds promoted after Smith Rowe and Huddersfield deny West Brom
Two great rivals separated by just 20 miles of West Yorkshire motorway, there has often been more that divides Leeds and Huddersfield than unites them. But when Emile Smith Rowe wheeled away in celebration here at around 7:20pm on Friday evening, it was hard to imagine where in this particular part of the world the cheers were louder.
Smith Rowe’s winner was certainly significant for Huddersfield, who are now all-but guaranteed of Championship football next season barring some sort of mathematical miracle. But there is no such asterisk against what this result means for Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds, who could sit back and watch their 16-year exile from the Premier League end without them kicking a ball.
How they have more than played their part in making this a reality, though. By far the Championship’s benchmark side this season, one of English football’s great institutions is finally back among the game’s elite. Many will argue it is long overdue for a club of Leeds’ stature and reputation, but as anyone who has followed the post-Premier League years at Elland Road will testify, it has certainly been hard-earned.
The humiliating defeats at Hereford and Histon. The Massimo Cellino disaster. The near-miss at Derby in last season’s play-offs. All consigned to the annals of history for Bielsa, Leeds and their army of long-suffering supporters at long last: and the irony that it was one of their closest rivals who sealed the deal will have surely raised a wry smile from many fans.
But this was just as notable an evening for Huddersfield, who will now surely avoid a second consecutive relegation. The challenge for the ever-ambitious Danny Cowley will be to emulate Bielsa and return Huddersfield to the top-flight, too. “Credit to Leeds, they’re a top team,” Cowley said. “It’s not easy for us to credit our local rivals but they deserve promotion.”
After falling behind to an early Chris
Willock goal, West Brom dominated large portions of a contest they needed to win after Dara O’Shea’s header on the stroke of half-time drew them level. Yet Slaven Bilic knew his side needed a victory to maintain their advantage over third-placed Brentford, and gambled as such with his substitutions.
Bilic made four within 15 minutes of the restart, but Charlie Austin and
Kamil Grosicki’s introductions were unable to break Huddersfield’s resistance. Despite having the better of the chances in the second half, it was Huddersfield who were victorious when Lewis O’Brien found Smith Rowe five minutes from time. He made no mistake, not only virtually securing safety for Huddersfield and promotion for Leeds, but leaving the door ajar for Brentford, who will leapfrog West Brom if they beat Stoke on Saturday.
“It’s hard to find an answer today,” Bilic said afterwards. “They looked like they wanted it more but that wasn’t the case. We crumbled under the pressure and I don’t know why. It was in our hands but when it mattered the most, we didn’t turn up.”
Now, at the most crucial juncture of the season, Bilic and West Brom must not only watch Leeds celebrate, but nervously wait to see if Brentford capitalise on their slip-up.
Bielsa promised in the aftermath of Leeds’ victory against Barnsley on Thursday that he and his staff would not watch the game that, as it turned out, eventually ended his side’s absence from the Premier League. As the seconds ebbed away in injury time here and he was surely notified of what Smith Rowe’s goal meant, you wonder if even the unflappable Argentinian was tempted to tune in.