Aston Villa 0 — Leeds United 3
Bamford’s hat trick & Leeds running roughshod
On Monday, Leeds United faded into the background in the second half against Wolves at home. Four days later, on the road at Aston Villa, they came out in the second and ran Villa off the pitch. They never game Villa a chance to get into this one, and the 3–0 final — a Patrick Bamford hat trick — could have been much worse — or better, for the Whites.
All the real action was in the second half. Villa had a chance to jump in front when Jack Grealish made a run from midfield, Leeds players simply unable to get him off the ball. He worked his way diagonally across goal, defenders dropping to the ground to block any shot. By the time he took his shot, he was down near the touch line and Leeds keeper Ilyan Meslier was able to smother it.
And that was that for Aston Villa, although they didn’t realize it at the time. They took the corner and Konsa made an excellent header on goal that Meslier tipped over. The next corner caused no problems for the Leeds defense, and they demonstrated why teams in the Premier League do not relish facing them.
The corner kick was corralled by Leeds and Rodrigo collected a pass in the center circle, which he then sent on to Harrison, who was haring up the left side as he did all match long. Harrison took it the length and then found Rodrigo who had himself chased up the left side. His shot came off the keeper’s hands and fell to Bamford who stuck the rebound in for the first goals of the match.
Ten minutes later, a Leeds corner and a bit of excitement when Bamford & Tyrone Mings got their feet entangled. No foul, but Bamford went down in a bit of pain. He made a decent enough recovery, apparently; two minutes later, after Mateus Klich had made another Leeds run, this time up the right side, Bamford found himself with the ball outside the penalty area and no Villa defenders nearby. So he took an easy shot that went into the upper right corner for his brace.
Seven minutes later, hat trick. Again, play came up the right hand side. Helder Costa ran the ball into the box, dropped it off to Shackleton who then tapped it to Bamford. Even though this time he had three defenders circling him, he was able to get a left-footed shot off between bodies and into the upper left of the goal. A player many people, including probably a majority of Leeds fans, thought would not have an impact in the Premier had scored a hat trick in under twenty minutes.
Villa kept playing, but there was no conviction. Leeds had no trouble controlling the rest of the match. They had numerous chances to add on but Pablo Hernandez, among others, squandered shots in front of goal. The final really should have been 4–0 or 5–0.
But an away win after a disappointing home loss was what they needed, and one this convincing, against a previously undefeated team — that had beaten Liverpool 7–0 and won at Leicester — has to be cause for enthusiasm and belief. Rodrigo has shown he’s fitting well into Bielsa’s system. Raphinha only played ten minutes, but he had the pass of the match, from the right behind midfield line to Harrison running into the deep left corner. It was a thing of beauty.
They now have off until the 2nd when they host Leicester. Life in the Premier is one tough match after another, but wins like this build a foundation for those games. The 4–3 loss at Liverpool started that: they had the stuff to hang with the best teams. The tie against Man City and now this win; Leeds may end up mid-table at the end but they won’t be anywhere near to going back down. They’ll be exciting fans all season.
And for today, they sit third in the table. The other teams have a game in-hand, but, still, it’s a nice thing to look at for the rest of the day.
First Half
The problems from Monday’s home match against Wolves seemed to have been addressed by Bielsa during the week. Crosses into the box were, for the most part, accurate and challenging. Leeds was unable to find the right combination to get the goal, however, with Patrick Bamford missing twice from close and Rodrigo hitting a great strike only to have an Aston Villa player directly in his way.
For twenty or so minutes, Aston Villa were on the back foot, but, as generally happens, they withstood the pressure and got themselves moving forward. They solved some of Leeds’ forward moves and put the Whites under pressure for extended periods. The closest they came was to have Jack Grealish’s shot cleared off the line — and it was right on the line, a mere half-ball’s width from a score — by Luke Ayling, who had let himself getted deked by Ollie Watkins to set up the play.
Neither team was able to score despite putting scares into each other, bott defenses hanging on by the skins of their teeth.
Here are match highlights from YouTube & the EPL.
