Leeds United 4-0 West Bromwich Albion: The Burning of Leeds
Pablo Hernandez swept all our cares away with one shot from his glitter-cannon right boot, leaving West Brom choking on his smoke and Leeds fans, their ears still ringing, picking tiny tinsel pieces from their hair.
The noise when Pablo Hernandez scored after seventeen seconds was like a bomb going off. And off, and off, and off. Hours have gone by and the cheers still resound.
It was impossible to know what Leeds United were going to do about this game. The 4-1 defeat last time they played West Bromwich Albion has hung over them, like the more recent defeat to Norwich City, like a sobering reminder of United's status as intruders in the top three; it's been hard to resist that the idea that, against the top teams, Leeds United lose.
Then there was Tuesday against Queens Park Rangers, a fixture crammed in as if deliberately to trip up a burning out squad. It became hard to resist the idea that, tired before their third game in six days, Marcelo Bielsa's constant eleven would lose to whoever they were playing.
"It's an obligation in my profession to overcome the sadness [of a defeat]," Bielsa said on Thursday, "and the hope of the next game is a good recipe for that." Hope is something that football fans always have. But on this night it mingled with apprehension that the recipe Bielsa was cooking up would leave us choking.
Hernandez swept all those cares away with one shot from his glitter-cannon right boot, leaving West Brom choking on his smoke and Leeds fans, their ears still ringing, picking tiny tinsel pieces from their hair.
It started with Liam Cooper, his defensive powers boosted by a thick headband over his cut eye, winning a high header from West Brom's opening high ball and turning the game around. Jack Harrison advanced down the left and Hernandez called for the ball in the sleepy hollow between West Brom's midfield and defence. He got it, and controlled it, and after weeks confronted by packed penalty boxes all he saw ahead was space, the top corner beckoning him like the moon to John F. Kennedy. Pablo chose to go for the goal. The ball had no choice.
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