Today saw Leeds United fire out another warning that they will be a team to be reckoned with in the Sky Bet Championship. It was as emphatic a 3-0 scoreline as you could imagine.
The three goals all came in a 24-minute storm that Stoke City hadn’t a hope of weathering as wave after wave of Leeds attacks drove forward. Relentless, that’s a word that Nathan Jones, Stoke City manager, used to describe Leeds’ performance today.
Thing is, he is right. Far too often Leeds have eked out narrow 1-0 wins in dominating performances that have left fans wondering where the goals are. Today was different; you could just sense the fact that Marcelo Bielsa’s charges had goals in them.
And they did.
1-0 Stuart Dallas (42′)
https://twitter.com/LUFC_Goals/status/1165274314398040066?s=20
2-0 Gjanni Alioski (50′)
https://twitter.com/LUFC_Goals/status/1165280408960765952?s=20
3-0 Patrick Bamford (66′)
https://twitter.com/LUFC_Goals/status/1165284403896930304?s=20
Those goals are but a small measure of the way that Leeds United took a not too shabby Stoke City side apart. The possession was suffocating and Stoke struggled to put anything meaningful together for sustained periods. A small measure of this dominating aspect was that Kiko Casilla had more completed passes than any Stoke City outfield player.
Ahead of the game though, Stoke were in a bellicose, ebulliant mood and that could be seen with this tweet:
Tomorrow 👊#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/rso81zdeDp
— Stoke City FC 🇺🇦 (@stokecity) August 23, 2019
Nathan Jones made six changes to the Stoke line-up as he attempted to halt the slide that had seen the former Premier League side hit Championship rock-bottom already this season. It was a bold move, but ultimately one that failed to pay off and the evidence in that was plain to see.
The confidence that the Potters had, as evidenced by the above tweet, seems now to disipated somewhat, and some Stoke fans are already grumbling for changes over on Twitter. Yet it was always a tweet that was going to receive more than a degree of interest from Leeds United fans. Here’s some of the responses.
Tomorrow is the new Today for Stoke City as pre-emptive victory tweet backfires
First up in Leeds United’s officail response.
Today 👍 pic.twitter.com/nF2qvnIHfb
— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 24, 2019
Here’s how some of the Whites fans have reacted to their club’s ‘mic drop’ response.
Today 👍 pic.twitter.com/nF2qvnIHfb
— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 24, 2019
WE’RE GETTING FINED IN THE MORRRRNNNINGG
— JM🦚 (@JoshLUFC_) August 24, 2019
Wilson leaving bodies everywhere
— Mike (@yonyteboah) August 24, 2019
Wilson leaving bodies everywhere
— Mike (@yonyteboah) August 24, 2019
— Blake (@blakerobson3) August 24, 2019
— Ash Sugden 💙💛 (@Ash_Sugden1994) August 24, 2019
