The euphoric reaction from Daniel Farke and his Leeds players when Daniel James’s strike in effect decided this rip-roaring Yorkshire derby spoke volumes. Nothing is settled or decided in mid-August: far from it, in fact.
But such are the standards at this football club, back-to-back draws to begin the new Championship season has contributed to a sombre mood surrounding last season’s beaten playoff finalists. That, and the fact Farke’s squad has been asset stripped since the loss to Southampton.
Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray, Glen Kamara and Georginio Rutter have all left, generating well over £100m in sales but there has been very little movement the other way. On Friday, however, the players that Farke has left produced their best display of the season so far to see off Sheffield Wednesday to provide some much needed positivity for Leeds.
Goals from Brenden Aaronson and James made it five points from nine for Leeds, consigning Sheffield Wednesday to a second defeat in three games in the process. Farke will be adamant that this result, and indeed the performance, should not convince the Leeds hierarchy their squad is sufficient, though.
“It’s not ideal because we’re looking at a 46-game season and another cup competition to come,” he said. “You won’t expect you will only have one or two players unavailable throughout the season – and we definitely need to add a few numbers.”
As Farke said, he will need more additions if Leeds are to last the marathon which is the Championship season and compete again but for all the players who have left in recent weeks, how ironic that it was the one who angled for a move away a year ago that was inspirational at Hillsborough.
Wilfried Gnonto’s time at Leeds seemed over when he pushed for a transfer to Everton this time last summer, but he was at the heart of everything Farke’s side did well, including the wonderful buildup play which led to Aaronson’s opener. “That’s exactly how I want him to play because at times today he was unplayable,” Farke said.
The visitors were on the back foot in the opening quarter, with the Owls backed by a vociferous home crowd. But as the first half wore on and Wednesday found themselves unable to force an opening, Leeds began to not only settle into the game but quieten the home support, too.
They were firmly silenced after 25 minutes when a scintillating counterattack was eventually finished by Aaronson, who is undergoing something of a redemption story. To suggest the reception he received upon his return from a season-long loan from Union Berlin was frosty would be putting it mildly, but two goals in three games have thawed things slightly.
Wednesday will look back on this as a frustrating evening. Had they scored early on, there could have been a different outcome. But after Aaronson’s opener, they struggled to regain any sort of rhythm and Leeds were dominant. This is now back-to-back league defeats after a thumping win over Plymouth on the opening weekend.
“We saw a good Leeds side,” the Wednesday manager, Danny Röhl, said. “Sometimes you have to suffer and stay together as a team. That’s what we have to take from this. The second goal was too easy.”
The moment Röhl referenced was decisive. They fell further behind just three minutes after the restart when Mateo Joseph’s inch-perfect through ball freed James, and he coolly dinked the ball over James Beadle to double Leeds’s advantage and put the hosts firmly on the back foot.
Rather than there being any sort of threat of a Wednesday fightback after the goal, instead it was Leeds who continued to push for a third. Joseph perhaps should have done better after a mazy run from Jayden Bogle led to the striker being through on goal, with Gnonto also coming close to making it 3-0.
Aside from a speculative effort from the Wednesday captain, Barry Bannan, that whistled just wide of Illan Meslier’s post, the Owls could not muster much by way of a threat to set up a grandstand finale. The momentum from their thumping of Plymouth is fading, though they will still hope for a successful season with the highly rated Röhl in the dugout.
This night, however, belonged to Leeds and after a summer of discontent at Elland Road, Farke will hope this was the evening when their season came to life after a stuttering start on and off the field.
