Joel Piroe awful, Dan James wows – Leeds United player ratings v Middlesbrough
Daniel Farke will be a relieved man after Leeds United escaped the Riverside Stadium with all three points against Middlesbrough and a 1-0 win.
Dan James‘ goal in the second minute made all the difference to the Whites’ promotion hopes, though it could have been much better for Farke’s future as Leeds boss without two wrong offside decisions.
Ao Tanaka’s back-post goal was disallowed for Leeds, made all the more frustrating by the Japan international being far onside, and the same could be said about Patrick Bamford’s strike against Middlesbrough in the second half.
Despite the setbacks from the linesmen, Leeds shot back to the top of the Championship table, with Burnley being held to a 0-0 draw against Burnley and Sheffield United losing to Millwall.
Joe Rodon completes trio of Wales internationals in Leeds defence
Karl Darlow – 7
Kept a clean sheet, as simple as that. Illan Meslier may find it difficult to break back into the Leeds team before the end of the season now.
Jayden Bogle – 5
Was frustrated by the forward runs from Tommy Conway, committing a couple of fouls when having to defend. Created a chance but was far too sloppy with some of his final balls.
Joe Rodon – 8
A rock-solid performance from the Welsh duo at the back, taking from their international experiences together to make up for Pascal Struijk’s absence at Leeds.
Ethan Ampadu – 7
Struggled a little in the ground duels. But with the majority of his passes remaining accurate, and a dominant display at the back, a clean sheet was enough to earn him above a 6-rating.
Junior Firpo (Off for Byram 68′) – 5
Lost a few too many duels on the left flank, hence his early substitution, but he did manage to make a couple of chances for the attacking players. Not his best night.
Ao Tanaka extremely unlucky against Middlesbrough
Ilia Gruev – 6
Was all over the pitch, like usual but some of his passes forward were off-kilter and slowed down his side’s attack. Nothing too special from the Bulgarian.
Ao Tanaka – 8
Hugely unfortunate. Should have finished the night with his fifth goal since arriving at Elland Road, only to see his effort at the back post wrongly disallowed for offside.
Dan James (Off for Schmidt 73′) – 9 – Man of the Match
Superb. Was a constant threat all night, threatening Mark Travers’ goal all night, which started off by scoring the opener just two minutes into the game.
Brenden Aaronson – 6
Aaronson has been slammed by Leeds fans all season, and while he lost multiple duels on the night, he dragged his team up the pitch at times and won fouls in decent areas, especially when under pressure.
Manor Solomon (Off for Gnonto 68′) – 5
Grabbed the assists for James’ winner, but after that, he was rather quiet at the Riverside Stadium and should have anticipated crosses into the box far better.
Patrick Bamford nearly becomes the hero at the Riverside Stadium
Joel Piroe (Off for Bamford 73′) – 2
Once again, Piroe was almost non-existent up front, but without Bamford fully fit, it is almost impossible for Farke to choose anyone else to lead the line for the Whites.
Substitutes
Sam Byram (On for Firpo 68′) – 5
Picked up a yellow card after replacing Firpo. Won the rest of his challenges but put unnecessary pressure on the team.
Wilfried Gnonto (On for Solomon 68′) – 6
Injected some much-needed pace into the final third.
Isaac Schmidt (On for James 73′) – 5
Didn’t really have much of an impact on proceedings. Still trying to work out where he fits in at Elland Road.
Patrick Bamford (On for Piroe 73′) – 8
Did extremely well when coming on, unluckily having his goal disallowed, but continued to cause plenty of problems.