The game played out as most of the fans on both sides would have predicted, apart from the identity of the two goalscorers. It took a while for us to break down a stubborn Derby County defence, but once we had scored the two goals there was only going to be one way this game was going to finish.
The game took place in somewhat blustery conditions, even though the worst effects of storm Darragh were confined to the west side of the country, with some games postponed over there. We had the Pennines to protect us, but there were still one or two bits of wind that had sneaked over the top of the hills.
There was just one change to the starting line-up, with Solomon coming in for Gnonto. The reason give by Farke was that Willy is one booking short of a suspension, with the cut-off game coming up quite soon. If that was the case it didn’t really make sense for him to be brought on after 68 minutes with the game already won, but thankfully he managed to complete the remaining time without upsetting the referee.
Leeds dominated possession from the start, but we had an enforced change to make after only 19 minutes, as Firpo’s hamstring problem forced him off. Byram was already out, and although Schmidt was an option, it was Wöber who took to the field, to a mixed reception. But his performance would be a response to those who doubt his commitment to the club, with Derby giving him little to do defensively he made his presence felt as he marauded into their half.
Our first decent chance fell to Aaronson, but the pass was a little behind him, and the fact he had to turn gave Forsyth the opportunity to get into position to make a block. The resulting corner fell nicely for Rodon, but he headed it well wide. Ammunition for the person who said on social media that Rodon is so bad at set pieces we might as well leave him on the half way line.
I started to worry that this might be yet another occasion when we failed to beat a ‘low block’, but the breakthrough finally arrived on 39 minutes. Another Aaronson shot on the turn lead to a corner that came through to Rodon, but this time our centre half took full advantage of Derby’s poor marking, getting his powerful header on target for his first ever Leeds goal. Sorry, what was that about him being rubbish at set pieces?
And if Rodon could score his first ever Leeds goal, then so could Wöber. As an Aaronson cross bobbled past a couple of hapless defenders, the Austrian displayed a remarkable strikers instinct as he raced in from the left to the exact spot where you would expect Piroe to be, to score with his right foot. Fun fact: this season we’ve now had goalscorers from ten different countries.
We might have expected Derby to come out a bit in after the break, but what we got was more of the same. After the match I couldn’t resist reading a Derby County forum for a good laugh, and it seems their fans who went were not impressed when their manager admitted to Radio Derby that he had no intention of trying to win the game, but just set his team up for damage limitation.
And if Paul Warne’s aim was to ensure that they finished the afternoon with a goal difference better than everyone below them in the table, then he must consider the second half a roaring success. This wasn’t due to any particular ability in being able to get out of their own penalty area. They got into trouble a couple of times trying to play out, and when their keeper kicked long it got held up by the wind, so we regained possession anyway.
But we failed to capitalise due to a combinations of Zetterstrom’s shot-stopping being better than his kicking, and their defence working hard to get a couple of blocks in at crucial moments. The Scandinavian keeper saved well-struck shots from Solomon and Rothwell, before getting down to tip a Piroe shot just past the post.
Solomon also cut inside to send a shot just past the far post, before being one of the players who was brought off on 68 minutes (Aaronson being the other) so that Gnonto and Joseph could come on. Neither change had much affect on the game, and Derby finally showed a few signs of starting to come forward.
Meslier was at last called into a bit of meaningful action, even if it was only to stretch for a cross with no Derby player anywhere near him, and save a shot that was pretty much straight at him. With only a two goal lead I allowed myself to get mildly anxious in case they got one back, and Farke felt the need to protect the back four by sending Guilavogui on for Rothwell on 85 minutes, with Ramazani for James being the other change.
Ramazani had time for one jinking run into the box but couldn’t find the finish to match, as his shot was going wide before it hit Piroe on the bottom. And that was about it, and we were back on top of the table, though Sheffield United will only need a point at West Brom this afternoon to reclaim the summit.
All in all it was a routine win, but Daniel Farke sounded happy as he spoke to BBC Radio Leeds: "For the first 10, 15 minutes, we were a bit hectic in our decision making but after that we were all over them, didn't allow them to have one chance”.
"We created many chances and could and should have scored a few more, but overall it was a pretty dominant performance and to deliver this after an unlucky loss (at Blackburn) makes me pretty happy. We were struggling with a few injuries during the game, but you couldn't see at all that this affected us - this is our way at the moment, we find solutions."
This was also our seventh successive home win, but the last four have been against a series of teams from the nether regions of the Championship table, and Middlesbrough will provide a much sterner test for us on Tuesday night. Let’s hope we can continue to find the solutions we need in that vital game.