There has been so little to cheer for Leeds United fans over the past decade or so that nights such as this are perhaps to be truly savoured. It was a far from vintage performance from Garry Monk’s side, but, really, that is the point; Leeds are not only winning tough, they are winning games that matter and as the season approaches its midway point, they find themselves thoroughly in the mix for promotion to the Premier League after a 12-year absence as they leapt into fourth place.
For Villa, this was a first loss in eight games under the stewardship of Steve Bruce, and the result means they lose ground on the play-off places after falling to a defeat sparked Kemar Roofe’s well-taken first goal for Leeds in a genuinely rare moment of quality in front of more than 32,000 fans.
The quality, or lack thereof, will matter little to Monk and Leeds. The manager’s office at Elland Road has welcomed more new faces in recent years than Leeds fans will care to remember, but, in Monk, there is strong evidence to suggest Leeds have finally got it right after another encouraging performance.
As Swansea fell to another catastrophic defeat in the Premier League, there will have perhaps been an envious glance at Monk’s progression in his new job following his departure from the Swans 12 months ago.
“We’ve had a few games where we’ve not been at our best but you have to win different ways at this level,” Monk said. “These young lads are learning all the time and they understand it has to mean something to win at this level. It’s going well of course, but I’m very balanced.”
The first meeting between these two sides for 12 years – and the first outside the top flight since 1988 – was a cagey affair. The in-form Jonathan Kodjia was Villa’s most threatening outlet on a frustrating night for the visitors, but the closest he came was when he fired over during a fairly forgettable first half.
Leeds came close when Pontus Jansson headed over from six yards out, before the Swede provided a more important contribution six minutes from half-time, as he slid in to deny Gary Gardner after the midfielder had been set free by Ashley Westwood.
Half-time brought about a welcome improvement in tempo and intensity. The fact that a pitch invader’s mazy run around five hapless stewards was the most entertaining sight of the first 50 minutes spoke volumes about the quality in the final third up to that point, but chances for Albert Adomah and Westwood sparked the sides into life.
After Roofe had what, on first glance at least, seemed a decent penalty shout turned down, he broke the deadlock on 68 minutes after latching on to the end of a magnificent cross from Souleymane Doukara, sending the home fans – and Monk on the touchline – into raptures.
“It was important for him,” said Monk of Roofe, who had taken 23 games to score his first goal since signing from Oxford. “It has been coming. He has been unlucky not to [score], but his performances in recent weeks have really helped him, and helped the team.”
That goal prompted Bruce to call for the cavalry from the bench, with Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jordan Ayew and Jack Grealish all coming on, but it was Leeds who struck again late on, Chris Wood tapping in from close range to secure victory and enhance Leeds’s position in the Championship play-off places, as well as Monk’s burgeoning reputation in West Yorkshire.
“It’s been a great start but this game sums up the Championship,” Bruce said. “It’s not all about silky football, it’s about who makes the least mistakes and today, we’ve made a crucial one for the first goal – but there’s still everything to play for.”
