Leeds United’s 2-1 victory over South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley moves the Whites up the Sky Bet Championship table and within sniffing distance of the play-off places.
If the first-half was the ‘settler’ for both sides, then the frenetic nature of the second-half was what the large crowd had paid their hard-earned money to come and watch. It was the proverbial end-to-end stuff, that cliché of clichés that tends to get thrown around in football.
However, after a titanic struggle towards the end when Barnsley threw everything at the Whites, it was Leeds who stood both tall and victorious courtesy of a 2-1 scoreline that shifted them up to 11th in the table.
In a performance that was all about the team pulling together and giving their all, here’s three things that helped Leeds overcome the Tykes.
1. A solid defensive core
With all the well-deserved plaudits aimed in the direction of Pontus Jansson, it’s easy to forget that Kyle Bartley is having a storming start to the season alongside the on-loan Swede. It is a partnership that is growing with every performance, growing and getting stronger. Could this be the defensive pairing Whites fans have been hoping for?
Bartley and Jansson vs Barnsley – steel and skills
- Tackles: 4 from 4 – 100% success (Jansson 4)
- Interceptions: 9 (Jansson 6, Bartley 3)
- Clearances: 19 (Jansson 10, Bartley 9)
- Blocks: 7 (Jansson 4, Bartley 3)
- Headed Duels: 9 (Jansson 7, Bartley 2)
- Total Defensive Actions: 48 (Jansson 31, Bartley 17)
- Passes: 61 completed from 71 attempted – 85.9% accurate (Bartley 31 from 31 – 100% accuracy; Jansson 36 from 40 – 90% accuracy)
[tps_start_button label=”Start slideshow” style=”” class=””]
2. El mago pequeño – Pablo Hernández
Without doubt, Pablo Hernándex was el mago pequeño, the little wizard, against Barnsley yesterday. When the ball was with him his trickery was evident in the way he orchestrated things, bringing others into play as well as getting himself into dangerous positions. His run to break the offside trap leading to his goal was a piece of exquisite timing, his control to bring the lofted ball from Eunan O’Kane a joy to behold and his control of his body to drag the ball left before opening his stance and lifting it over Adam Davies was just superb.
Magician Hernández weaves a spell vs Barnsley
- Passes: 39 completed from 52 attempts (75% accuracy)
- Key Passes – leading to a shot: 3 (7.7% of completed passes ended in a chance)
- Shots: 3 (on target 2, scored 1; 66.7% shot accuracy, 50% conversion rate for on-target shots)
- Tackles: 2 completed from 4 attempted (50% success)
- Blocks: 1
3. Kalvin Phillips – an understudy hitting the big stage
There was a time when it was a case of Academy products at Leeds United propping up a flagging team, providing the impetus through their potential – not so at the moment. Kalvin Phillips, alongside players like Ronaldo Vieira and Charlie Taylor are now fitting into a team that is showing smoothness and guile where it was only grit before.
Yesterday Phillips, deputising for the still-injured Liam Bridcutt played a game that was equal measures of silk and steel. Not scared to get involved and stem the flow of Barnsley’s atacks, the youngster also started to display his range of passing. His lofted dink over the top into the path of Pablo Hernández was a joy to behold and showed what a great combination skill and confidence can begin to form.
Kalvin Phillips shows a cool hand and steps up to the plate
- Passes: 35 completed from 45 attempted (77.8% accuracy)
- Key Passes – leading to shots: 1 (2.85% completed passes ended in a chance)
- Shots: 2 (1 on target – 50% accuracy)
- Tackles: 6 successful from 10 attempted (60% success)
- Interceptions: 6
- Clearances: 3
- Blocks: 3
- Total Defensive Actions: 18
In all fairness to complete the three things that helped Leeds to victory, I could have gone on and mentioned intangible concepts such as ‘stability’ and ‘belief’, both of which are present at Elland Road in spades at the moment. No doubt both of these concepts are important and both will serve Leeds United well down the stretch as they move past the quarter-season mark after the international break.
But against Barnsley it was all about individuals putting in performances that gelled in a great team effort.
