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By the final whistle Marcelo Bielsa’s smile was as bright as the stars shimmering in the cold, clear night sky above Teesside. Leeds United’s manager had not merely seen his second-placed side put a decent chink of daylight between themselves and the Championship’s chasing pack, but he had proof that they can cope without their talismanic midfield enforcer Kalvin Phillips after all.
If Leeds look set for automatic promotion, one of their former players could be heading in the opposite direction. Mateusz Klich’s decisive goal left Jonathan Woodgate’s Middlesbrough deep in relegation trouble at the end of an evening in which they, creditably, refused to fold but were distinctly second best.
A broken finger failed to prevent Kiko Casilla – still waiting for a Football Association disciplinary panel’s verdict on the complaint of racism made against him by West Brom’s then Charlton loanee Jonathan Leko – starting in goal for Leeds. Phillips, though, failed to recover from injury in time and his absence saw Ben White vacate his customary central defensive berth to fill the gap.
Phillips has proved so pivotal for Leeds this season that he is now been seen as a dark horse for Gareth Southgate’s England squad, and White looked slightly on edge as the visiting passing network initially struggled to find a coherent wavelength.
Middlesbrough were even nervier. Their failure to win a single League game since New Year’s Day had left Woodgate’s side far too close to the relegation zone for comfort and, arranged in a revamped 4-2-3-1 formation, they seemed somewhat tentative.
As, almost imperceptibly, Leeds began to find their range, with White finally starting to settle into his new role and helping establish a convincing passing groove, Boro had reason to be grateful for an old boy’s penalty area profligacy.
There is much to admire about Patrick Bamford’s game but Bielsa’s lone forward is not always exactly ruthless and his litany of missed chances this season largely explains why West Brom rather than Leeds are top of the Championship.
Bamford spurned a couple of first half chances here, most notably directing a cushioned header straight at Aynsley Pears. Aware his side were living dangerously, Woodgate looked alarmed as another slick visiting manoeuvre sliced through his defence and concluded with Pears doing very well to keep Stuart Dallas’s low shot out.
Betrayed, repeatedly, by sub-standard final balls Boro failed to capitalise on Hayden Coulson’s ability to outpace Luke Ayling and often struggled to get too far out of their own half. Bar a miscued shot from Lewis Wing, they barely tested Casilla’s finger.
Woodgate’s team appear riven with assorted fractures of their own and, shortly after Pablo Hernández’s shot ricocheted back off a post, their backline finally broke. With Boro caught out by a rapid counterattack which ended with Bamford cleverly cueing up Hernandez, George Friend proved powerless to tidy up the fallout from that rebound and, seizing the initiative, Klich played a one-two with Hernández before sending a low shot arrowing into the bottom corner.
Scored on the brink of half time, Klich’s goal could easily have exerted a highly adverse psychological effect on Boro but, instead, it seemed to motivate them with Coulson’s audacious nutmegging of Ayling perhaps emblematic of the potential locked somewhere deep inside this team.
Coulson created a chance for George Saville to unleash Boro’s first shot on target in three games but, finally called to arms, Casilla tipped it over the bar.
Suitably stung, Leeds resumed normal service with Pears performing wonders to repel Hernández’s swerving shot and Boro surviving a strong looking penalty appeal when Jack Harrison was sent tumbling in the area.
Desperate to readjust the power balance, Woodgate used all three substitutes but could find no room on the pitch for the troubled talent of January loanee arrival Ravel Morrison. Despite Leeds’ dominance Boro nearly equalised when Marcus Tavernier curled a shot against the bar.
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