You don’t always get what you deserve, not in the Premier League.
Here was Leeds, hammering the Fulham door down for 90 minutes, as the Londoners played survival football, desperately trying to make it back to the team bus unscathed.
That was until stoppage time began. The Leeds fans roared in hope more so than expectation at this stage and as players fell over as if on a slip-and-slide, the ball broke to Ethan Ampadu, the captain, wide on the right.
He barely looked up before swinging his cross in for substitute Lukas Nmecha to score a thoroughly deserved goal that left Fulham and their head coach Marco Silva completely and utterly crestfallen.
Leeds didn’t get what they deserved down at Craven Cottage when Fulham delivered their own late suckerpunch. Here, in the eyes of Daniel Farke and his players, was justice.
Lukas Nmecha (right) came off the bench to be the hero as Leeds United defeated Fulham 1-0
FORTRESS ELLAND ROAD
Before the season began the alarm bells were ringing as to just how the three promoted teams would possibly be able to stay up with the gap between the Premier League and Championship said to be as vast as it’s ever been.
What that worrying prediction – and it’s been right a lot in recent seasons – had not taken into account with Leeds United was the fortress that is Elland Road.
This place was rocking long before the game kicked off as ‘Marching on Together‘, the club’s beloved anthem, rang out across every stand.
From start to finish this was a cauldron of noise that, truthfully, Fulham never came close to shutting up.
Fans roared with delight at the aggressive and attacking displays of wing-backs Jayden Bogle and Gabriel Gudmundsson, and goaded each and every Fulham mistake to the point where Silva barely looked comfortable trying to process it all.
Leeds have been awful on the road, winning just once. But dominating at home can go a long way and this result means it’s now just two defeats from 11 at home, with Everton, Newcastle, Bournemouth, West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Manchester United and now Fulham all failing to beat them here.
Leeds will stay up and they owe a lot of that to fortress Elland Road. Few better amphitheatre’s of football in English football than this one.
The noise generated inside Elland Road all game made it a suffocating occasion for Fulham
FULHAM’S YELLOW FEVER
A lack of cool heads is going to cost you at plenty of grounds but certainly here at Elland Road and this was as big a part of their downfall on the day as Timothy Castagne switching off at the back post with Nmecha for the goal.
Castagne was one of five Fulham players to go into Chris Kavanagh’s book in a scrappy afternoon, with Harry Wilson, Jorge Cuenca, Sasa Lukic, and substitute Jonah Kusi-Asare joining him. Even Silva got booked after losing his head in the first half.
That takes their total to 50 yellow cards so far this season. Only Tottenham Hotspur (58), Brighton (55) and Bournemouth (51) have picked up more.
They need to get a grip of it before it really comes back to bite them.
AARONSON CAN BE SUMMER STAR
There is every chance that Brenden Aaronson pitches up at the World Cup as one of the most in-form players of any player in the Premier League.
They’ll be a lot of noise about the usual suspects, of course there will, and he may well get overshadowed on his own team by Christian Pulisic.
But I hope Mauricio Pochettino was watching here. Play to Aaronson’s strengths this summer and the United States will have one of the most electrifying talents at the tournament at their disposal.
Breden Aaronson was a delight to watch and can be a crucial player at the World Cup in June
