Moments of champions: No Willy, no party

Champions are forged in moments of adversity, not triumph. Liam Cooper suffered through Massimo Cellino’s hubris of home-cooking before going on to eventually lift the Championship title years later. Our most recent set of heroes had to endure play-off misery and the bi-annual dentist trip that was playing against Jon Eustace’s teams before they achieved the promotion everyone was so desperate for.

And it was glorious. We had a 6-0 win against Stoke City to seal promotion, followed by a 4-0 drubbing of Bristol City to set up what we assumed would be a title-winning procession at Plymouth Argyle on the final day of the season. Leeds had scored ten times in the previous two matches, surely an already relegated Plymouth would roll over for the champions-elect?

Plymouth leading 1-0 at half-time suggested otherwise. Just when you thought Leeds had finally grown out of their propensity to Leeds things up, it seemed like they had one more slip up in them.

Willy Gnonto’s equalising goal just after half-time was forgotten amid the chaos that ensued half an hour later when Manor Solomon’s injury time winner handed Leeds the title. It’s understandable, given the Hollywood scenes at the end of the match but, without Gnonto’s goal, it’s quite conceivable that Leeds end up spending time expending serious energy as they tried to level things up. Perhaps the winning goal never arrives.

Gnonto’s goal began with Muhamed Tijani clattering Ethan Ampadu off the ball, which prompted the eternally stoic Ilia Gruev to scream at the linesman, before appearing on the edge of the Plymouth box. Gruev fed the ball to Solomon who did his best to jink past two Argyle defenders and his cross attempt got flicked on by Jayden Bogle into the middle of the six-yard box, where Gnonto tapped in.

Wee Willy read the situation perfectly, reacting to Solomon and Bogle’s interaction much quicker than Plymouth full-back Bali Mumba, getting ball-side of him and tapping into the empty net. Gnonto followed that up by picking the ball out of the net and having a quick celebration with the travelling fans before running back to the centre circle.

The equaliser at Home Park that set up Leeds’ dramatic title win may have been lost in the haze of blue and yellow cordite, but it was Gnonto’s ninth goal — on top of six assists — in a season that many felt was underwhelming by the high standards Leeds fans expected of him.

Leeds spent the rest of the match plugging away at Plymouth before it eventually paid off with Solomon’s last minute winner. In some way, we have the Gnonto goal to thank for Ethan Ampadu’s bus parade antics, Pat Bamford on guitar and Joss Guilavogui in a cowboy hat. So cheers, Willy. ⬢