Showing posts with label matt smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label matt smith. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Match Report:Sheffield Wednesday 6-0 Leeds
Sheffield Wednesday registered their biggest-ever Yorkshire derby win against Leeds with a 6-0 thrashing to maintain their climb up the Sky Bet Championship table.
First-half goals from defender Reda Johnson and big striker Atdhe Nuhiu put Wednesday firmly in control and after Leeds substitute Matt Smith had been sent off two minutes into the second period, Connor Wickham added a killer third.
Chris Maguire's deflected free-kick in the 67th minute and substitute Caolan Lavery's superb late double ensured Leeds slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season and not since a 4-0 victory in October 1955 have Wednesday enjoyed such a comfortable win against their White Rose rivals.Wednesday extended their unbeaten run to five matches and the manner of this latest success will surely convince chairman Milan Mandaric to make caretaker boss Stuart Gray the club's permanent manager.
On-loan Sunderland striker Wickham was one of three changes to Wednesday's starting line-up, while Leeds' new signings Cameron Stewart and Jimmy Kebe both made largely ineffective debuts on the left and right wing respectively.
Wednesday were first to threaten, but winger Jacques Maghoma lost his balance when sent clear into the penalty area and Nuhiu headed Johnson's cross off target.
Defender Jason Pearce headed Leeds' first effort wide from Kebe's cross, while Wickham lashed a low angled shot inches wide at the other end after a swift Wednesday counter-attack.
The home side then took the lead. Wickham's free-kick was not properly cleared and midfielder Kieran Lee clipped a fine ball over the top to pick out Johnson in the penalty area and the unmarked defender had plenty of time to steer the ball home from six yards, off his shin, for his third goal of the season.
Wednesday were comfortably the more cohesive side and Maguire crashed in a low 25-yard shot that forced Leeds goalkeeper Paddy Kenny into a smart near post save.Leeds began to find their range and enjoyed more possession, but Wednesday dealt the visitors a massive blow with a second goal just before half-time.
Wickham dispossessed Leeds skipper Rudy Austin and ran 30 yards before slipping the ball to Lee and he rolled the perfect pass across the six-yard box for Nuhiu to slide the ball home at the far post.
Wednesday could have been out of sight moments later when the impressive Lee set defender Liam Palmer free in the box, but he fired low into the side-netting.
Leeds were dealt another blow seconds after the restart when half-time substitute Smith was shown a straight red card by referee Lee Probert after colliding with Johnson.
Wednesday then struck their third, all but securing their fourth league win under Gray three minutes later.
Wickham's backheel spun kindly off Maghoma and the forward powered into the left edge of the area before drilling a low left-footed shot inside Kenny's near post.
Maguire's 25-yard free-kick after Austin's foul on Maghoma deflected off the Leeds skipper to wrong-foot Kenny and make it 4-0 in the 67th minute and Lavery, recalled from a loan spell at Plymouth this week, turned the visitors' defence inside out before netting in the 80th minute.
It could have been worse for Leeds, but Wednesday substitute Jermaine Johnson's stinging effort in the closing stages hit the post and Wickham's goal-bound shot was deflected over the crossbar by Leeds defender Pearce.
But still the fun for Wednesday was not over as Lavery turned on the edge of the area to curl home a fine sixth with virtually the last kick.
Sunday, 20 October 2013
Match Report: Leeds United 4-0 Birmingham City
Striker Ross McCormack inspired a first-half demolition of Birmingham as Leeds strolled to back-to-back home Sky Bet Championship wins. Leeds were out of sight by half-time as they found the net three times, firstly through McCormack after 18 minutes. The Scotland international, who missed last week's World Cup qualifying win over Croatia, then played a major part in the next two goals from Rodolph Austin and Matt Smith. Smith added a fourth in the 74th minute to ensure his side's 4-0 win. McCormack was twice the victim of desperate saves by Birmingham goalkeeper Darren Randolph before making it third time lucky in the 18th minute. Randolph rushed out of his goalmouth but his attempted clearance cannoned off Leeds captain Austin to McCormack who shot into the unguarded net from 20 yards for his sixth goal of the season. With both teams using wing-backs there were forays galore down the flanks. Leeds goalkeeper Paddy Kenny was twice relieved to see shots by winger Chris Burke zip just wide of the far post and Lee Novak had a goal disallowed for offside. The energetic McCormack felt Dan Burn had fouled him inside the box but his claim for a penalty was waved aside by referee Paul Tierney. McCormack was involved again when Leeds doubled their advantage in the 33rd minute. Austin picked McCormack out on the left with a superb pass from inside his own half before sprinting into the goalmouth to send a downward header past Randolph from the Scot's deep cross. Then, on the stroke of half-time, Smith released McCormack whose shot was parried by Rodolph back to Smith and the former Oldham striker reacted quickly to fire home Leeds' third. Birmingham manager Lee Clark replaced defender Burn and striker Novak with Andrew Shinnie and Nikola Zigic at the start of the second half, but Leeds continued to create openings and Austin shot straight at Randolph when he should have scored. With Shinnie improving Birmingham's midfield play, the visitors were unfortunate not to cut the deficit three times in a five-minute spell. Tom Lees made a goal-line clearance to deny Burke, Kenny brilliantly tipped over a sizzling drive by Zigic and David Murphy smacked a free-kick against the near post. Leeds survived again when Sam Byram cleared Burke's angled shot off the line but with 74 minutes gone Austin and youngster Alex Mowatt combined on the left for Smith to head his second goal and Leeds' fourth. Austin received a deserved ovation on being replaced by Michael Brown just before the final whistle. Birmingham were left glancing over their shoulder at the relegation places while much-improved Leeds completed their biggest home win since a 4-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town in the Capital One Cup first round in August 2012.
Labels:
birmingham,
leeds,
leeds united,
lufc,
match report,
matt smith,
paddy kenny,
rodolph austin,
ross mccormack,
sam byram
Saturday, 3 August 2013
Match Report:Leeds 2-1 Brighton
Leeds' first million-pound player in eight years made an immediate impression on his new club as Luke Murphy scored a 94th-minute winner to see off Brighton at a sold-out Elland Road.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined United from Crewe last month and his eight-figure fee - the first time the club have paid such an amount for a player since they signed Richard Cresswell in 2005 - has installed him as a beacon of hope to Leeds' fans.
On a day which saw them celebrate the start of an advertised new era following the summer ousting of controversial former chairman Ken Bates, it was perhaps fitting for them that Murphy should make a late run into the box and down last season's play-off semi-finalists.Prior to Murphy's intervention a draw was on the cards, with Ross McCormack having cancelled out Leonardo Ulloa's opener for a Brighton side coming to terms with changes of their own, with manager Oscar Garcia having replaced Gus Poyet over the summer.
But the crowd of 33,432 would be left celebrating come the end as Murphy struck, giving former Barcelona man Garcia a rude awakening to life in the hustle and bustle of the SkyBet Football League.
Had Paddy Kenny not made three brilliant saves to deny them it could have been a different story, but with Leeds having squandered chances of their own, it was always going to settle with the side which could make an opportunity count.
Leeds had not appeared so sure-footed early on, however, and it was Brighton who made the first impression as Andrea Orlandi forced Kenny into action from 25 yards.The early stages certainly gave a nod to Garcia's philosophy - Brighton were happy to roll the ball around - and with 13 minutes gone it bore fruit as Ulloa haunted Leeds again.
The ex-Almeria man booked Brighton's play-off place with a last-minute winner against Leeds in April and was on the spot again today, nipping ahead of Tom Lees to tuck an Andrew Crofts cross under Kenny's body.
Ulloa's strike briefly took the sting out of the atmosphere, but within five minutes Leeds were level.
Michael Tonge dug out a cross from wide on the right, and when Luke Varney's flick fell to McCormack, the Scotland international did the rest from just inside the box.he goal appeared to give Leeds an assurance they had lacked early on and Murphy was unfortunate to see a 25-yarder flash wide, while fellow debutant Noel Hunt lifted one over from six yards as he fell under pressure from Matt Upson.
Clear chances dried up after that and it was not until the 55th minute that either goal was threatened again - Varney cutting in on the counter attacking but fluffing his lines and dragging wide.
Brighton had been largely contained since their goal at that point, but suddenly reintroduced themselves to the game at the three-quarter mark with only Kenny stopping them from regaining the lead.Substitute Will Buckley cut in from the right and pulled back for Crofts, whose instinctive first-time shot was well saved by Kenny, but the former Republic of Ireland international had to be even better on the follow-up as he smothered an Inigo Calderon strike at his near post.
Tonge was then left in a heap and appealing for a penalty as Leeds looked to regain some momentum, while substitute Poleon could have put them ahead without the need for a spot-kick had he done better when hooking a loose ball goalwards.
Poleon - rated highly by McDermott - then nodded a cross wide from six yards as United sought a second, which really should have arrived when Paul Green crashed over after Tomasz Kuszczak parried another Poleon shot in the 90th minute.
Even then there was time for Kenny to deny Buckley with a stunning two-handed stop, before Murphy ran on to a Matt Smith flick to beat Kuszczak from six yards.
Labels:
brighton,
dominic poleon,
leeds,
leeds united,
luke murphy,
luke varney,
matt smith,
paddy kenny,
ross mccormack
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