Leeds ease past Sheff Wed to reclaim Championship top spot

Leeds moved back to the top of the Championship after easing past Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 at Elland Road.

Manor Solomon’s early finish, pouncing on a James Beadle error, saw Leeds take an early lead and Largie Ramazani came off the bench to double the home side’s advantage in the 88th minute. A deft flick from Ao Tanaka in stoppage time finished the scoring.

The victory saw Leeds bounce back to winning ways in the league after successive draws and strengthened their automatic promotion bid while also extending their unbeaten run to 10 matches.

Leeds’ control of proceedings limited Wednesday to very little in the way of clear-cut chances on under-fire Illan Meslier’s goal and the ‘keeper was not tested until the hour mark when he got down to keep out Djedei Gassama.

Despite his early misjudgement that led to Solomon’s goal, Beadle managed to make a number of vital stops to prevent the margin from widening. The Wednesday stopper kept out a rampant Daniel James with some vital saves.

Daniel Farke’s side widened the gap on Burnley and Sunderland, who played out a draw on Friday night, and moved back above Sheffield United, who beat Norwich 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.

It was the perfect start for Leeds who scored with their first real attempt on goal – and they had Beadle to thank for it. The Wednesday keeper mistimed his rush out in an effort to claim a loose ball ahead of Brendan Aaronson.

The 20-year-old got a touch on the ball, but it rolled favourably to Solomon, who could take his time and pick his spot to open the scoring.

Wednesday appeared to grow into the game but failed to take advantage of their short spell in the ascendancy, keeping possession well without testing Leeds.

After the break, Leeds put their foot on the ga. James tested Beadle with curling efforts from the edge of the area as well as dangerous balls into the box. Wednesday looked like they were surviving the onslaught but they eventually buckled under pressure, Ramazani’s persistence paying off when he whacked in Leeds’ second.

The home side were not done there as deep into stoppage time, two became three when a late corner pinballed in the box and found Tanaka, who turned in the ball to wrap up the contest.