Elland Road has always been a home for the ungodly of Leeds. When rugby league was the prominent sport in the city, many of its clubs were linked with churches, meaning people treated their favourite team with the same respect as their faith. Except at Leeds United, where our only religion over the last century or so has been maintaining a reputation as a right set of bastards.
It was only fitting, then, that on the Lordโs day we were traipsing over to Beeston with Leeds kicking off their Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Wednesday at the ungodly hour of 12pm. To hell with Jesus or any of his disciples when itโs a freezing cold morning and there are flat pints of lager to force down. Seriously, no wonder weโre like we are.
Weโre still waiting for evidence of divine intervention at Leeds: nothing weโve won has been given to us, and our latest three points from Sheffield Wednesday were no different. Donโt let the scoreline fool you, this was a hard-fought win built on hard graft.
For most of the game, Leeds were grateful for the buffer given to them by Joe Rothwellโs early ambition and enterprise in spotting Brenden Aaronsonโs intelligent run two minutes after the opening whistle. Rothwellโs pass may have been a yard too far, but it was tantalising enough to tempt Aaronson into forcing a fumble out of โkeeper James Beadle, allowing Manor Solomon to pick up the rebound and calmly dissect the two defenders standing on the goalline.

Moments later, Leeds broke again, only for Aaronson to take too long while weighing up which of the three teammates around him to pass to, inviting a tackle that halted Unitedโs momentum. Aaronsonโs dithering was an infuriating theme of the afternoon in another performance that convinced me heโs a defensive midfielder stuck in a waifish attackerโs body. For all his energy in haranguing defenders helped Leeds keep winning possession high up the pitch, he was just as disruptive to the Peacocksโ own attacks with his wastefulness on the ball.
But while Leeds may have been guilty of playing at a pace that suited the visitors, referee David Webb revealed himself as the gameโs real villain. Talking and writing about match officials is boring, but itโs not as tedious as paying the best part of fifty quid to watch the latest dickhead blow his whistle time after time while he makes up the rules as he goes along. For long periods of the first half, Webb decided football is now a no-contact sport and outlawed tackles altogether, only to randomly interpret other periods by a completely different standard. At one point, both teams stopped after a slide tackle, assuming Webb was going to interfere once more even though the ball had been won, only for the ref to wave play on much to everyoneโs confusion. The most exciting part of the whole match came late on, as Webb briefly allowed a concerted free-for-all of tackles, the ball ricocheting from one of the pitch to the other before Leeds came out on top and broke to a roar from the crowd, with the attack predictably petering out due to Aaronsonโs brain buffering at the choice of simple passes.
Leedsโ failure to find their groove at least meant we got the chance to appreciate a different side of this team. While Sheffield Wednesday threatened to cause problems, Leedsโ defence never let them get too close to test Illan Meslierโs nerves. Ethan Ampaduโs last ditch-tackle just as an unmarked Josh Windass was shaping to shoot in front of goal would have made Marius Zaliukas proud, Joe Rodon relished his usual meat-and-potatoes defending and got his usual whack for doing so, and Sam Byram was once again worth his weight in gold, coolly dealing with opposition attacks even when diving two-footed into the air to win the ball in his own penalty area. The solidity of that trio gave Jayden Bogle the license to roam forward, getting up and down the wing like the Duracell Bunny Leeds have lacked since Gjanni Alioski was shaking the tunnel and squeaking like a dolphin.
Paired with David Webbโs meltdown, Wednesdayโs own doggedness made much of the first half a dour watch, but Leeds asserted their class just before the break, Dan Jamesโ persistence drawing two sharp saves from Beadle.
United seemed more like their usual selves after half-time, but leading by only a single goal felt dangerously familiar to so many other past disappointments, at least until Largie Ramazani came off the bench, got the ball on the edge of the penalty area, spotted Aaronson to his left, and wisely decided to shoot into the bottom corner himself. The goal allowed Elland Road to exhale, and Ramazani to continue a proud tradition of Leeds United backflips, with Ao Tanakaโs subsequent backheel serving up a late chefโs kiss to the Sheffield Wednesday fans heading for the exits and back to South Yorkshire. It wasnโt as easy as Leeds eventually made it look, which only made it all the more satisfying. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday, after all. โฌข