Leeds back at top but Bielsa cautious of dangers ahead
It appears increasingly a case of when and not if Leeds United end their 16-year exile from the top flight after the latest ruthless display from Marcelo Bielsa’s side propelled them another significant step towards a Premier League return.
Not that the head coach was entertaining talk of promotion in the wake of a fifth successive victory. Far from it, in fact, as the South American warned his players the hardest part of the campaign is yet to come as they aim to avoid a repeat of their Devon Loch run-in last season when a seemingly nailed-on top-two finish ended up in play-off heartache.
Huddersfield were swept aside as the hosts underlined their supremacy with a goal in each half. Luke Ayling will struggle to score a better one in his entire career, while Patrick Bamford ended a lengthy wait to see his name back on the scoresheet to help seal a return to the Championship summit.
Each of the last five victories has been achieved with a clean sheet to post the club’s most impressive run since they were promoted back to the second tier a decade ago – allowing them to leapfrog West Bromwich Albion and establish a seven-point cushion on Fulham in third.
Bielsa urged caution, insisting: “We know how quickly things can change in this division. We’ve still got the most important and the most difficult stage of the season ahead of us. We have nine games left to get the points we need.”
With less than three minutes on the clock, Elland Road witnessed one of the finest pieces of finishing seen this or any other this season.
Jack Harrison’s lofted centre from the left was met by Ayling and he produced an unerring first-time volley from just inside the area, the ball crashing in off the underside of the bar beyond goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.
The marauding full-back’s third goal in five games led to the understandably exuberant 28-year-old briefly untethering his flowing locks before unfurling a perfectly-executed air guitar celebration, replete with knee-slide.
Huddersfield recovered from such a chastening start, and came close to an equaliser when Trevoh Chalobah almost forced a low shot under French goalkeeper Illan Meslier after exchanging passes with Fraizer Campbell.
Leeds were a significant threat on the break, and came within inches of a second goal when Harrison volleyed narrowly wide from a diminishing angle at the end of a four-man move.
Lossl saved well from Bamford at the outset of the second half, but was powerless to prevent the forward doubling Leeds’s advantage six minutes after the break with his 13th goal of the season.
Huddersfield’s Danish keeper dived full-length to keep out Ben White’s header from a Pablo Hernandez freekick, only for Bamford to poke home the rebound from close range for his first goal since late January.
The visitors’ efforts to stem the flow saw their attacking threat wane and Harrison almost made it three with a curling effort against the post.
Defeat leaves Huddersfield three points above the relegation zone and head coach Danny Cowley said: “We responded well but conceding so early made life hard.”