Leeds United 3-1 Burnley: Safety first
Leeds did enough against Burnley and have done enough all season and considering the last six promoted teams there's not much more they can reasonably have done. And even the fates' most twistical threads can't undo it all now.
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This wasn't exactly how you'd want to celebrate Premier League safety, so it was perfect. Leeds are anyway not technically, mathematically, perfectly safe. We celebrated anyway, bashfully, hoping the fates won't notice us. The game was not the cruise that three goals before the hour against a relegated, managerless side should have felt like. Stoppage time, two ahead, came over all unnecessary. But those feelings, all of them, too many for one night, were how you knew this was Leeds.
All the shadows of our fates had gathered at Elland Road on Friday. The opponents were Burnley, our 100 point follow-ons out of last season's Championship, gripping October's 2-0 win at Turf Moor like a protective blardigan against their relegated East Lancs frost. They brought Hannibal Mejbri with them for a second half substitute, so he could roam the Peacock Ground, seething about how that game got him a ban for spitting at Leeds fans. They brought some other old faces too, like Jaidon Anthony, who has been quietly effective in the Premier League — seven goals, two assists despite his club's dreadful season. And Kyle Walker, who tried half a season in Milan but still decided the best place to wind down his post-Manchester City career was Burnley. Where's John Stones going to go? Bamber Bridge?
The referee was Sheffield's Thomas Bramall, Gabriel Gudmundsson's tormentor at Selhurst Park, let in charge of Leeds again inexplicably soon after the Key Match Incidents Panel — even them — agreed he had punished us wrongly. Bramall, whose Wikipedia page obscures his true age like a Hollywood star of the 1950s (b.1990, age 35-36), spent the evening waving his book at Leeds players then turning to face the KMI Panel, screaming, 'come on then, who's the ref now!' each time at them.
Skulking around the directors' box, pretending he didn't try to flog it off so he could buy Sampdoria and acting like he never Sacked Bielsa, was Leeds' former owner Andrea Radrizzani. This was his second comeback attempt after he foolishly declared his intent to attend in October and got booed off before he even got in. Why does he want to come back at all? What can he say to Paraag Marathe and co apart from, well, this all seems to be going much better now I'm not here? Heck, why not bring Victor Orta with him, Jesse Marsch, Weston McKennie too? Could have got Chris Armas over for a game if he hadn't been nepo'd into a job in the NWSL (he has Kansas City Current 13th of 16).
Also portentous, in the sky, the sun. A sign of apocalypse to wandering Burnley fans choking on the unfamiliar smogless air, and a reminder of a warm morning at Wembley for Leeds fans who turned up for an FA Cup semi-final last weekend and left wishing their team had come too. Then Burnley captain Walker won the toss and turned Leeds to face north. The night's pot was swirling with omens and auspices and murmurs about more Wigan again and how no team ever got relegated with this or no team ever went down with that. It's becoming more and more difficult not to trust Daniel Farke's team. But it's still really easy to distrust our old football club.
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So it was really important to start the way they did, the way they did briefly at Wembley, with Noah Okafor driving into the penalty area within thirty seconds. Against Chelsea a long wait followed for Brenden Aaronson to start a move he couldn't finish that could have tilted Wembley in United's favour. Here, in half the time, Aaronson's replacement Anton Stach didn't bother with the move. Jaka Bijol, one of last weekend's most crumpled characters, helped him with an incisive straight pass out of the centre circle: Stach took a touch and, hardly even turning, snapped a low left-footed shot that kissed the post as it passed and made the goalie cry.
Scoring after eight minutes put Burnley right where Leeds wanted them, and probably needed them. On the subject of shadows of the past, lately Leeds have become a lite reprise of Marcelo Bielsa's 2020/21. That team won a lot more than this one, but a lot of winning was required before fans could stop looking over their shoulders at Fulham in 17th. Four defeats in five was a rough record through February '21, but then Fulham and Sheffield United were beaten consecutively and the third win of three came away to Manchester City. Suddenly it was clear how well the team had done, and they only lost one of their last eleven games. After that single defeat they won the last four, basking in glorious optimism all the way to summer.
So to 2026. This season has been comparatively slow, draw-laden, always closer to peril. But then again in Greater Manchester the team unveiled its best self. Winning 2-1 at Old Trafford was the permission to look back across the season altogether and take things in, like how only seven teams have lost fewer games than Leeds, like how since losing 3-2 at Manchester City this team has been the Premier League's seventh best performer. How their patient, point-per-game plod to safety has carried an edge, like before the opening goal against Burnley when Joe Rodon passed the ball back to Bijol, and he took it with his arms out wide, ushering his full-backs into position, cooling minds and calming energies — then he whipped his pass straight to Stach and he stuck his shot in the net.
Leeds stayed as cool as they could while getting to 3-0. As if to show how much has and hasn't changed since the Championship, Leeds let Burnley have all the ball rather than keep 71 per cent of it and lose, like at the start of last season. The Peacocks were confident that the absurd Clarets who only conceded sixteen goals last season were long gone, and the version with 69 against them would eventually give up numbers 70 and 71. Leeds scored 24 more goals than anyone else in last season's Championship, but even after changing their style in the Premier League to have less possession, only Newcastle United have scored more than our Peacocks in the bottom half. Burnley had the ball but Leeds had the control.
They had Dominic Calvert-Lewin, too, and after a couple of lean months he helped settle this match early in the second half. After six minutes of it James Ward-Prowse passed right on half-way and got the ball back. Then he passed left on half-way and didn't get the ball back, because Bashir Humphreys played a pass so lazy that Quilindschy Hartman, standing wide of him, visibly sighed as he thought through the impending rigmarole of having to run back up the line. Calvert-Lewin was much more interested, stealing the ball and taking two defenders with it and him into the space Hartman couldn't be bothered with. And, jabbing a backheel between them, he found Jayden Bogle bursting his lungs from right-back into the penalty area, who popped a cross over the penalty spot so Noah Okafor, another merrily sprinting seventy yards, could bounce a sidefooted volley safely into the goal.
Four minutes later Ethan Ampadu's long throw got to Ao Tanaka, outside the area, and his swerving shot was stopped by Martin Dúbravka's arm. The ball bounded upwards and Calvert-Lewin surged at it, prodding in from close range like the no.9 he has remembered, this season, how to be.
The story from there is of Leeds tiring in midfield and letting the ball go in twice before fresh legs arrived. Only one Claret goal counted, when Anthony found space in the centre and time for a pass that sprang off Pascal Struijk's heels, helping Loum Tchaouna hammer in. United's reinforcements had to deal with what was passing, from Burnley, for improved morale but it was all more pretended than acted on by the end. There was no way Leeds were going to concede two or three more goals and lose this result, but eight minutes of stoppage time lulled everyone into imagining they might.
United's total of 43 points is doing a good job of the same thing. The Premier League table shows them above Crystal Palace now, who have a game in hand, and bothering Newcastle, and creeping up on Sunderland, and nine points from European qualification. But then Tottenham went and won, so although West Ham United were soundly beaten and are seven points behind us in 17th it isn't quite there for Leeds. Being quite there next depends on what West Ham do at home to Arsenal next Sunday. But Leeds did enough against Burnley and have done enough all season and considering the last six promoted teams there's not much more they can reasonably have done. And even the fates' most twistical threads can't undo it all now. ⭑彡
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