COMMENT

Leeds United defeated Norwich City at Elland Road on Saturday to close the gap on the play-off positions.

Pontus Jansson opened the scoring late in the first-half after the Whites had to sustain heavy pressure from Norwich City.

This turned out to be the only goal of the game as the Whites defended admirably and Norwich failed to find the way to break them down.

Leeds had several opportunities to grab another goal to make their win comfortable, but in the end they had to grit their teeth and hang on for the points.

And it sees their recent good form continue after their season had threatened to come off the rails.

It means they've now won three from their last four league games – and drew the other 1-1 with Aston Villa – and the results have seen them move up to seventh in the table, just a single point off the play-off places.

Which Leeds players were the heroes and which were the zeroes?

Click below to see the ratings of the goalkeeper and defenders against Norwich City...

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Goalkeeper and defenders

Felix Wiedwald (Goalkeeper) - 5: Sliced a goal kick that led to an opportunity for Norwich City, which just shows Wiedwald's ability to cause himself trouble. However, he made a fantastic save to deny Alex Pritchard in the opening minutes of the second-half.

Luke Ayling (Right-back) - 6: The right-back should have scored when he was given a easy opportunity to head the ball home, but headed straight at the Norwich City goalkeeper. Ayling nearly got caught out by a Norwich City counter-attack as he recklessly slid in but Jansson was there to cover him.

Liam Cooper (Centre-back) - 6: Cooper quietly got on with his defensive duties and helped the rearguard action hold out for the full 90 minutes.

Pontus Jansson (Centre-back) - 9: Scored the opening goal of the game, expertly heading the ball low into the bottom left corner. The defender was the last line of defence for a Norwich City counter-attack and cleared the danger successfully. Leeds would have been lost without him on Saturday.

Gaetano Beradi (Left-back) -6: Looked more comfortable in Saturday's game compared with his last outing against Queens Park Rangers. The Canaries didn't run at the fullback which made his day easier, and he dealt with what he had to.

Click below to see the ratings of the midfielders v Norwich City...

Midfielders

Ronaldo Vieira (Centre-midfield) - 4:

After controlling the midfield against Queens Park Rangers, Vieira went missing for large portions of the game against Norwich and was lucky not to be subbed.

Kalvin Phillips (Centre- midfield) - 5: Had a good chance after Beradi played him through on goal but his effort went wide of the left post, was more lively than Vieira but that wasn't hard to do on Saturday.

Ezgjan Alioski (Left-wing) - 5: Outshone by his fellow winger Cibicki, but didn't really put a foot wrong, just failed to push the team forward. Alioski could have started successful counter-attack but Saiz wasn't able to keep up with the winger's blistering pace.

Pawel Cibicki (Right-wing) - 8: Sensational in the first-half, Leeds would not have taken the lead if he wasn't on the pitch. The winger's delivery was excellent every time, and he'll be wondering why his teammates couldn't finish the chances.

Click reveal to see the ratings of Leeds' front-line against Norwich City...

Forwards

Samu Saiz (Striker)- 4: Struggled in the first-half and continued to not impact the game in the second-half but did show odd glimpses of flair. Looked like he may have an opportunity to run at goal early in the second-half but foolishly fouled the defender to deny himself an opportunity. Saiz then messed up a one-on-one opportunity, striking the post. The normally dependable 26-year-old had an off day.

Kemar Roofe (Striker) - 4: Could have given Leeds' a comfortable 2-0 lead when his side broke on the counter-attack but instead of passing to one of three teammates in space, tried the spectacular and failed.

Click reveal to see how Leeds' substitutes got on against Norwich...

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Substitutes

Pablo Hernandez (Striker) - 6: Replaced Roofe on the 78th minute mark and showed glimpses of what he was capable of. Hernandez nearly scored with the last chance of the game and was unlucky to hit the side netting.

Jay Roy Grot (Striker) - 5: Within minutes of coming on to replace Saiz, the striker nearly gifted Norwich City a golden opportunity to equalise due to not being strong enough on the ball.

Matthew Pennington- N/A - Replaced Cibicki with minutes remaining, didn't have time to make a difference. 

In other Leeds United news, former Whites midfielder David Prutton has given his prediction for the game against Norwich.

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