Leeds United 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Owls Leave it Late to Win the Yorkshire Derby
Having won the reverse fixture of this tie, a 3-0 win for the Owls back in October, Wednesday were looking to complete the double over their big rivals. With both teams in bad form, could either side find enough fight to gain the bragging rights?
The Yorkshire Derby was underway and the Owls had a great chance early on. Sam Hutchinson, who returned after a lengthy period out due to injury, won the ball off Pablo Hernandez thanks to a well-timed tackle. Nuhiu picked up the loose ball and slotted it down the right for Joao who cut in past Pennington, and neatly slid the ball through to Reach. Reach latched onto the pass but saw his shot saved by the feet of the Leeds keeper.
Sam Hutchinson then teed up Reach for another chance to take the lead. Hutchinson did what Sam Hutchinson does best and won a crunching tackle on O’Kane. The ball fell to Adam Reach who took the ball out of his feet before powering a long-range effort towards goal. However Bailey Peacock-Farrell parried the ball away and out for a corner.
Three minutes later, Leeds saw a glorious chance wasted by forward Ekuban. Stuart Dallas won a freekick on the edge of the box for the home side. Leeds crafted a set-piece routine which cut through the Wednesday defence; Alioski ran across the ball and Hernandez slotted it to Pennington who poked the ball through to Ekuban. With only the keeper to beat, his shot was saved well by Wildsmith.
Leeds were then denied a sniff at an opener thanks to a great defensive challenge from the Owls. A Wednesday attack minded throw-in quickly transitioned into a Leeds chance. Alioski picked out Hernandez from just over halfway. Hernandez found Ekuban. Ekuban held up the ball before playing through Alioski who had continued his run. The Macedonian winger pulled the trigger but Venancio stopped the effort with a crucial tackle to keep the score line level.
The home side were in on goal once again but failed to capitalise on the opportunity. The corner following Venancio’s tackle was cleared by Reach. Berardi looped his header back into the box where Caleb Ekuban smashed the ball high and into the kop, despite Wildsmith slipping over.
Atdhe Nuhiu then had a good chance to put the Owls ahead minutes before the break. Nuhiu played a one-two with Adam Reach before twisting and turning his marker on the edge of the box. He then saw his shot deflect off O’Kane and into the hands of Peacock-Farrell.
Wednesday thought they had taken the lead on the stroke of halftime. Reach’s deep freekick was headed across goal by Ex-Leeds defender Tom Lees to Hutchinson who headed into the net. However as Hutch was celebrating, he soon realised that the linesman had raised his flag and ruled out the goal for offside. The halftime whistle went and both teams went in at the break goalless.
Both sides were welcomed to the second half by baltic conditions which affected the flow of the game. Players were slipping and the ball pinged quickly across the surface. The ball ended up at the feet of Alioski on the edge of the box, just after the restart. Alioski turned and shot straight over the bar.
Atdhe Nuhiu went close to breaking the deadlock on the hour mark in the fixture. A poor clearance from the keeper was headed into the path of the Wednesday striker. Kalvin Phillips won the ball off Nuhiu and then tackled Reach. Nuhiu ran into the loose ball and curled his shot towards the top corner which, unfortunately, didn’t dip in time and went inches over the bar.
Moments later, Adam Reach tried to play the ball out of defence but found himself in a panic when Berardi robbed him of possession in the box. The United right-back turned and hit a fierce effort across the face of goal and wide.
The stalemate was broken as Atdhe Nuhiu put Wednesday into the lead. Jack Hunt beat his man on the right channel and crossed into the box. Adam Reach saw his glancing header strike the post however Nuhiu reacted quickest and smashed the ball into the back of the net.
Moments later, the hosts had a good chance to level the tie. Pablo Hernandez sneaked into the box to get on the end of Alioski’s through ball and hit it first time. Wildsmith showed his class though as he quickly got down and blocked the shot.
Leeds United equalised with four minutes left of normal time remaining. Venancio headed a Leeds corner towards the byline which Pudil subsequently, headed into the path of Hernandez who curled into the middle for Jay-Rot Grot to head past Wildsmith. This sent Elland Road into madness as they must of felt they had nicked a point from their Yorkshire rivals.
This wasn’t the case though as in the first minute of stoppage time, Nuhiu bagged his and Wednesday’s second of the game. Pudil pumped the ball up field from full-back. Pontus Jansson misjudged his header which allowed Nuhiu to out-strength his marker before beautifully tucking the ball past the keeper, sending the away support into raptures.
The win wasn’t confirmed though as with what would be the last kick of the game, Leeds won a fortunate freekick just outside the area. This was a big concern in the away end as me and fellow Wednesdayites were left biting their fingernails in nervousness. Lassoga stepped and… rifled the freekick wide of the post!
The referee blew the final whistle to confirm Sheffield Wednesday’s first win in 11 years at Elland Road.
A great win for the Owls, hopefully they can take this into the international break and push on to finish the season in a good run of form.
STAR MAN: Atdhe Nuhiu
This could of gone to many players however, it’s hard to deny that the Kosovan international was the stand out player in this Derby. The Leeds defence couldn’t handle the 6ft 6” striker who bullied them all game. He was always in the right place at the right time and showed great composure when netting the winner. A fantastic display all round though!
Attendance: 31,638
Goals: Grot (86’); Nuhiu (71’, 90+1’)
LUFC: Bailey Peacock-Farrell; Gaetano Berardi, Pontus Jansson, Matthew Pennington, Tom Pearce (Jay-Roy Grot); Ezgjan Alioski, Eunan O’Kane (Kalvin Phillips), Pablo Hernandez, Adam Forshaw, Stuart Dallas; Caleb Ekuban (Pierre-Michel Lassoga)
Unused Subs: Felix Wiedweld, Vurnon Anita, Hadi Sacko, Ronaldo Viera
SWFC: Joe Wildsmith; Jack Hunt, Frederico Venancio, Tom Lees, Daniel Pudil, George Boyd; Sam Hutchinson (Barry Bannan), Joey Pelupessy (Morgan Fox), Adam Reach; Atdhe Nuhiu, Lucas Joao
Unused Subs: Cameron Dawson, Liam Palmer, Jacob Butterfield, David Jones, Jordan Rhodes
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