Max Wöber headed the ball backward into his own goal and a gaggle of Middlesbrough players popped off to the South East corner of Elland Road to celebrate. Dan Barlaser had put the ball onto Wöber’s head and cupped his ear to the South Stand. Boro centre-back George Edmundson, who had been enjoying a pretty good game to that point, fist pumped towards the South with all the conviction of a man who had seen coins and lighters lobbed onto a football pitch before. He used to play for Rangers, so it tracks.

That little gesture caught the eye from my vantage point in the upper section of the Cheese Wedge, and proceeded to live in my head rent free for the remainder of the game. Why, George? Why couldn’t you have just been a boring centre-back and picked the ball up as you ran toward the centre circle while gesturing to your teammates to follow? He just had to be enough of a prick to get me going, more than I was already on a night when Boro showed up with a full away end and a team with the joint-best attacking record in the division alongside Leeds.

After Dan James smashed the ball past Boro’s Seny Dieng and the dust settled from the chaotic scenes on the terraces, my immediate thought was, ‘I hope that was Edmundson’s fault.’ It’s petty, but it’s why we stand in the cold for two hours and exchange libellous chants with people we’ve never met and will probably never see again.

Boro’s sizeable away following actually participated and did so loudly. It added a sense of occasion that made Tuesday’s eventual victory taste all the sweeter. It’s been difficult to generate much of an atmosphere at home, and I’m not inclined to blame Daniel Farke’s more pragmatic football. Sometimes we can make our own fun, but it takes two to tango.

And tango we did. The away fans dabbled with the predictably unoriginal and unsavoury chants, Leeds fans responded predictably, and there began the verbal jousting. There was just enough needle in this match to consider it a proper contest by the time Edmundson made a faint attempt at pantomime villainy.

It wasn’t quite Brentford’s Neal Maupay taunting the South Stand in 2018, having scored a penalty after one of the most blatant dives you’ll ever see from Ollie Watkins. But it couldn’t be. Moments before half-time, Edmundson almost spooned a header into the same goal that ​​Wöber found in the 54th minute. Perhaps he was still sheepish from his almost own goal, perhaps not.

Either way, it provided some of us inside Elland Road with a villain for the final twenty minutes. Just before James’ goal, Edmundson was booked for a clumsy foul on the edge of the box which prompted this masterpiece of a reaction:

Just excellent work all round. It was the only foul Edmundson had made all night, but it served him right for having the gall to celebrate a goal in a semi-cheeky manner.

And it was Edmundson again who played a key role in the goal that killed the game off. His stray, tired pass into midfield fell short of its intended target and found an energetic Ao Tanaka who, after passing to Joel Piroe, found himself in the right spot to deftly square James’ cross for Brenden Aaronson to finish. 3-1 Leeds, game over.

Football is a results business and I spent more time than I care to admit wondering what effect the silly little celebration at 1-1 might have on George Edmundson after this game. In totally unbiased hindsight, his strong defensive performance began to unravel after that moment. In reality, he probably thought nothing of it and is just frustrated to have lost to the Championship leaders. He can also take solace in the fact that he’s still not as hateful a Boro centre-back like Daniel Ayala was.

Ah well, thanks for coming, George. You made that victory all the sweeter. ⬢

(Photograph by Mark Cosgrove, via Alamy)