Kemar raises roof
MARCELO BIELSA was “euphoric” after Leeds swept to the top of the table with a last-gasp goal that capped a thrilling comeback. Kemar Roofe hit his 11th of the season in the fifth minute of added time to complete an astonishing revival. Bielsa’s side were 2-0 down at half-time yesterday after goals from Tammy Abraham and Conor Hourihane but staged a second-half fightback to take all three points.
First, Jack Clarke and Pontus Jansson brought Leeds level. And when Roofe smashed in the ball with just seconds remaining, Bielsa said the excitement was all too much for him. “We’re all just so overwhelmingly happy – maybe too much,” he said. “We were satisfied with the draw, so we felt euphoric when the ball went in so late.” Victory saw Leeds leapfrog Norwich to go top – and in the past 10 years, the side leading the Championship on Christmas Day has always gone up. “I hope we won’t be the exception,” said Bielsa. “But all things like that are there to be broken so we’ll just take each game as it comes and see.”
Roofe’s late strike made it six wins on the spin but that streak looked over when Leeds trailed at the break after Villa had rocked them hard and early. Before the visitors had time to realise what had hit them they were two down.
Abraham smashed the home side in front with five minutes on the clock, cashing in from close range after brilliant work by John McGinn. Referee Andrew Madley seemed set to blow for a penalty as McGinn was sent tumbling, but waited for the split-second it took Abraham to pounce on the loose ball and rifle it in.
Hourihane then doubled the lead when he curled a cracking left-footer into the bottom corner in the 17th minute.
As the teams came out for the second half it was clear the next goal would be crucial – either killing off the visitors or handing them a lifeline.
Leeds took the only option open to them – chuck everything at Villa and see if they would crack. It paid dividends as substitute Clarke fired home a 56th-minute angled shot to suddenly give them hope.
Villa were wobbling under a spell of relentless pressure and, as they tried to fend off the punches, Jansson rose superbly to meet a Pablo Hernandez corner and send a bullet header past Orjan Nyland to level.
Leeds might easily have been left complaining they should have had a 63rd-minute penalty when Glenn Whelan handled Roofe’s header, but the striker exacted his revenge with a clinical finish at the death to wrap up the points.
The goal came when Villa full-back Ahmed Elmohamady shunted the ball into Roofe’s path and he struck his seventh goal in his last 10 games.
Villa manager Dean Smith said: “You have to give credit to them as they are the best team we have played so far. We were punished for our defensive lapses again. Unfortunately that reared its ugly head in the second half.”