It was the beginning of the end for Leeds United the last time they visited Coventry City. Was this the beginning of a very different ending on Wednesday? Daniel Farke’s side were untidy, even outright wasteful, in the final third, but did not need to be at their best as they beat Frank Lampard’s side at Coventry Building Society Arena.
This was the exorcism of another of last season’s ghosts. Much like the trips to Stoke City and Preston North End, this was Leeds redressing the balance, settling a score, even if only in their own minds. The backbone of last season’s drive to title contention, a 15-match unbeaten run, ended at the hands of these opponents last April.
Between New Year’s Day and April 6, nobody in the Championship got the better of Leeds. They came from 17 points behind Leicester City to the heart of the title race. That was until Mark Robins’ Coventry took the first of the four wheels that would come off through the run-in. Five games followed that 2024 meeting. Leeds lost three, drew one and won the other. It was curtains for the top-two push.
Wednesday’s return came, admittedly, two months earlier in the campaign and with a lot more football to play. Nothing was going to be decided in the race to the Premier League, but it was another significant stop en route to what they hope will be celebrations at Plymouth Argyle on the final day of the season.
Judgements on the business Leeds did not do during the transfer window cannot be drawn from one fixture in the West Midlands, but the significance of this result was the statement it sent so soon after the 7-0 win against Cardiff City, the nipping in the bud of any negativity. Leeds had to build on their weekend launchpad and underline why Farke had shown such faith in these players through the window.
It was the win they needed and a performance that could have, again, crossed the evisceration threshold. Leeds ended the night with an expected goals (xG) tally of 2.7. Only four games have yielded more for Farke’s side this term. They generated six big chances, missing four of them, and that was without a stonewall penalty they should have had.
Aside from the avalanche of chances which have been created over the past three hours of football, it proved an important evening for Illan Meslier. The goalkeeper’s stock crashed at Hull City on January 4 with three blunders in a 3-3 draw, but he has not conceded since. Yes, his team-mates have remained dominant in front of him, but Wednesday required saves from him, and good ones.
Some supporters will have made their minds up on about him, regardless of what happens between now and May 4, but this was an important night for Meslier. He will again feel like he is playing his part, while his team-mates can allow their own faith in him to recover.
There was the customary excellence from the full-backs and Manor Solomon. Jayden Bogle may have had some help from Coventry goalkeeper Oliver Dovin, but his interpretation of Ricky Villa’s 1981 FA Cup final slalom, from right-back, will live long in the memory. It is the kind of goal his outstanding displays have been threatening for weeks, if not months.
🔥 @Jayden_bogle was on a mission!#EFL | @LUFC pic.twitter.com/tc5eaJTUTB
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) February 5, 2025
Joel Piroe moved himself closer to Championship top scorer, Norwich’s Borja Sainz, with another lovely finish, but a later miss from eight yards when one one-on-one tainted his night. Daniel James had a match of near-misses, but Solomon goes from strength to strength. He always picked the right pass, with the perfect weight or forced saves from Dovin when others were fluffing their lines.
The transfer spotlight was on a new No 10 throughout January and Brenden Aaronson’s execution did little to soften outside desires for a new face in that pocket. It is not happening every week and it is tolerable while they are winning, but his failure to convert two two-on-one openings into shots for team-mates, across a span of three minutes, was hard to swallow.
Ultimately, this is nit-picking, however. Leeds are unbeaten in 13 league games, two short of last season’s longest run. They are averaging two goals in every game they play. They have 19 clean sheets from 31 games. They are on course for 98 points at their current trajectory.
Was this the beginning of the end of the nerves, of their stay in the second tier, of their rivals’ hopes Leeds might yet falter? Nothing is decided, the play-off elastic has not been snapped, but the optimists may be daring to dream now.
(Top photo: Morgan Harlow/Getty Images)
