Manchester United 1-2 Leeds: Leeds stun Old Trafford to move six clear of danger

Manchester United 1-2 Leeds: Leeds stun Old Trafford to move six clear of danger

Leeds started the game with an incredible intensity and after passing up an early opportunity, they opened the scoring through Noah Okafor’s first time finish into the bottom corner. They didn’t stop there as Okafor grabbed a second goal after his effort from range deflected into the net via a deflection from Leny Yoro.

Leeds kept up the intensity and were looking set to cruise to victory after Lisandro Martínez was shown a straight red card after a hair pull. That was until Casemiro came up with a late header to half the deficit with 20 minutes to go.

The visitors did hold on to secure a first league win at Old Trafford in 45 years.

As it happened

The first huge chance fell to the visitors and to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Gabriel Gudmundsson whipped a lovely low ball into the box and picked out the Leeds number nine in the six-yard box, but his effort from point-blank range was brilliantly kept out by Senne Lammens in the Manchester United net.

Just a minute later, the visitors carved out another huge chance, but this time, they took it. Again it came from a great cross, this time from Jayden Bogle, his cross was flicked on by Calvert-Lewin into the feet of Noah Okafor, whose first-time finish flew past Lammens to give Leeds an early advantage in the Roses derby.

Leeds continued to press Manchester United and were well and truly on top. They finally made that momentum count after 28 minutes when Okafor’s long range effort deflected off Leny Yoro, wrongfooting Lammens and nestling in the bottom corner, as the Swiss forward grabbed both his and Leeds’ second of the evening.

The hosts really struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game and it was Leeds who very nearly found a third just before the break. Again, Man United gave up possession too easily in their own defensive third, as Ao Tanaka won the ball back high. He found himself through on goal, rounding Lammens, only for Lisandro Martínez to get back to clear the ball off the line and prevent Leeds from surely wrapping the game up with a third.

From the resulting corner, Pascal Struijk found himself open and rose highest, but couldn’t redirect his header into a corner and it was easily held by Lammens, as the visitors again passed up a huge opportunity to further extend their lead.

Manchester United came out for the second half and within three minutes created a better opportunity than in the entire first half. Luke Shaw played a nice ball down the side of the Leeds defence for Benjamin Šeško to run on to, he skipped away from Jaka Bijol before his shot was saved by Karl Darlow and cleared off the line by James Justin as the visitors survived an early scare.

Things went from bad to worse for the hosts, as after a VAR review, Martínez was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after being adjudged to pull Calvert-Lewin’s hair.

Despite being down to ten, Man United did get the next goal and brought the Old Trafford crowd back to life. Bruno Fernandes, who had barely been in the game, picked out Casemiro at the back post, who fired a header back across goal, past Darlow and into the far corner to give the hosts some hope.

Calvert-Lewin had yet another huge opportunity to wrap up the three points for Leeds but his header was straight at Lammens. At the other end, Bryan Mbeumo nearly found himself through on goal, but Bijol did brilliantly to get back and block the substitute’s effort.

Šeško very nearly came up with another big goal for United as his header was well saved by Darlow. From the resulting corner, Casemiro looked to have scored again, but he saw his header cleared off the line by Calvert-Lewin, as Manuel Ugarte couldn’t find a way to bundle the ball over the line.

The hosts pushed and pushed for an equaliser but Leeds United held on for a massive three points at both ends of the Premier League table.

Manchester United looked every bit a side who hasn’t played since the 20th of March, 24 days ago. They failed to deal with the Leeds press and transitional threat, and paid the price for a really poor first half, where they were lucky to only be two goals behind. They will see this as a huge missed opportunity to go 10 points clear of Chelsea, who they play next weekend at Stamford Bridge.

For Leeds, this is a huge, and well deserved three points. Their first half performance alone saw them create more than enough chances to win any football match, but even despite lacking a clinical edge, they managed to get over the line. This win takes them six points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in that dreaded eighteenth place spot, and with performances like that, they will surely be okay. Their first league win at Old Trafford since 1981, coupled with a first FA Cup Semi Final place since 1987, it has certainly been a pleasing few days for Leeds United and their supporters.