For much of last night’s game Leeds struggled to break down a stubborn Millwall side, until a fine second goal from Ao Tanaka finally sealed the win.
After a return of only one point from the last two matches we urgently needed a win, but unlike on Sunday we started in the knowledge that our two rivals had only drawn their games, both at home in fixtures we might have expected them to win. Daniel Farke made one change, with Rothwell coming back in for Gruev, as he continues to alternate between these two, depending on whether we’re at home or away.
The visitors showed their intent to make things as difficult for us as they possibly could by making a lively start, but our first attack had rather more quality than their efforts could manage. And it ended by giving us the lead, albeit in slightly fortuitous circumstances.
Rothwell won the ball on the halfway line, and set in motion a flowing move down the left involving Piroe and Aaronson, ending with Solomon getting to the by-line. As he played the ball across the face of goal, Cooper got a slight touch, and when Jensen got a hand to the ball he only succeeded in diverting the ball over the line.
It’s gone down officially as Cooper’s own goal, even though the TV replay showed that it wasn’t going in until the keeper touched it. Though you could say the defender’s touch was crucial, as Jensen was in line with the original cross, then had to suddenly dive when it was diverted. The goal eased the tension, but Millwall didn’t let their heads drop, and they restricted the number of chances we were able to create in the rest of the half.
Aaronson was having a lively game, and after he jinked past a defender and accelerated into the box Jensen made a bit of a meal of a shot that was pretty much straight at him, eventually shovelling it behind at the expense of a corner. Then Tanaka shot from distance, which was on target before it started to swerve away from the goal. And soon after we thought we had scored the second.
Aaronson played a ball onto Piroe, and the Dutchman’s neat footwork took him past a defender, before he hammered the ball into the roof of the net. But the linesman’s flag was raised for a very tight offside call. He would have seen a bit of Aaronson’s shirt beyond the last defender, but said defender was leaning backwards, so if we had VAR in the Championship Aaronson might have been ruled to be level, therefore onside.
Amongst other things it was a shame for Piroe, as he seemed to be keen to get a goal after his costly misses on Sunday. Millwall did have a couple of moments, first through a dangerous ball across the face of goal from Azeez (our tormentor in the FA Cup tie), when thankfully no one was there to convert it. Their captain Cooper is always a threat from set pieces, and just before half time he sent a header just wide from a corner.
So although we went in at half time a goal to the good, we clearly had a lot to do to make the game safe, and Farke must have told them so at half time. We stepped up a gear after the break, and were soon putting the Millwall defence under sustained pressure, creating a series of chances without getting that all important second goal.
Solomon’s run down the left took him past a couple of defenders, and he took the shot on despite the options available in the centre, and the ball grazed the top of the bar on the way over. Then Aaronson wasn’t far over the bar with a shot from distance, and Firpo pulled the ball back for Solomon, but the Israeli dragged the ball into the side netting.
At the other end there was one dodgy moment when Meslier almost fumbled a dangerous cross, but thankfully it went behind for a corner. My anxiety levels were starting to creep up, as it would be typical Leeds if we’d managed to gift them an equaliser after dominating the game for so long.
Piroe initiated a break downfield after a misunderstanding between two Milwall players allowed him to take the ball inside our own half. It would have been hilarious if that had ultimately led to a goal, but having sprinted to get into position, James didn’t seem to have the energy to battle for the ball once he was challenged, and the chance was gone.
Which suggested we were starting to run out of puff, but as we entered the final ten minutes Millwall had used all five of their subs, but we hadn’t used any! Even by Farke’s standards of late substitutions this was a bit unusual, especially when we had another game less than 72 hours later, so we would need to keep at least some players fresh.
But finally the pressure paid off, and the eleven who started the match managed to create the all-important second goal on 85 minutes. Solomon slipped the ball to Firpo down the left, and as the full-back ‘s cross found Tanaka arriving late on the edge of the area, the Japanese international hit his shot sweetly to give Jensen absolutely no chance.
Our manager had his first pair of subs on the touchline already when the goal went in, one of which was Gruev for Rothwell to help to shore things up at the back. Two more changes were made right at the end, and we comfortably managed to play out time with no further alarms. There were a few signs of tension as we approach the ‘squeaky bum’ phase of the season, but at least we went back to the top of the table with only nine games to play.
Can we keep our act together this time?