Leeds United 4, Bristol City 0
It was more of a celebration than a football match.
From the opening kick, Leeds dominated the possession, setting up camp in the Bristol City end and taking chance upon chance. But even more than that, the Elland Road crowd was in full effect, singing loudly.
Talking about this as a mere game is to simply miss the point. The Leeds United faithful missed out on the chance last week to truly celebrate their beloved Whites’ promotion, and this was the chance for everyone to enjoy not just a thorough thrashing of a pretty good Bristol City side, but to celebrate the whole season.
The onslaught began early. Both Aaronson and Bogle had terrific chances to open the scoring, but couldn’t quite crack the defense. It didn’t seem to bother the crowd, who loudly sang “Leeds Is Falling Apart Again,” in praise of this new blog. We appreciate the hat tip, y’all.
The relentless pressure finally paid off when Manor Solomon found Ao Tanaka on the backpost, completely unmarked. Look, I know he’s not one of our more lethal threats, but… you might want to cover that guy.
https://x.com/GoalsXtra/status/1916936073898344638
Tanaka almost put in a second goal a few minutes later when Bristol failed to mark him on a corner kick again. This time, his header went off the side netting. About the only thing that wasn’t going right was that Leeds only held a 1-0 lead at the half, and all it takes is one boneheaded play to erase a game’s worth of dominance.
The second half opened much the same way as the first, with Max O’Leary making some phenomenal saves to prevent Leeds from doubling its lead. O’Leary had a nearly thankless effort, making 7 saves, half of them of genuine highlight reel quality, only to still be on the wrong side of a blowout.
The seal finally blew open when Willy Gnonto slammed in Piroe’s cross.
https://x.com/GoalsXtra/status/1916949081135468993
Largie Ramazani came on in relief and netted two more goals, punctuating the final goal with a full tumbling pass. Marching on Together, indeed.
Stats don’t always tell the story, but they give you a pretty good picture of how this one went. Leeds held a gigantic advantage in shots (19-3), shots on target (11-1) and corners (11-1). Leeds finished the game with 74% possession, and frankly, I’m shocked Bristol even had that much.
The party was delayed a week, but that didn’t matter. Leeds are going up, and the potential for a 100-point season is still alive. We get to enjoy one more game as the dominant team in the league before the reality of Premier League football sets in.
So let’s soak this one up.
