Derby County  0                         

Leeds United   1 (Aaronson 79) 

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29th December, 2024, EFL Championship.

32,240.

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What a week this has proved to be for Leeds United! Three wins on the trot, seven goals scored, none conceded, and we end the year two points clear at the top of the table having taken full advantage of the fact that all our Championship rivals have dropped points this week.

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I had a feeling Derby would be the toughest of the three games – we beat them comfortably only three weeks ago but since then they had found a little bit of form and managed to get a point out of Burnley and all three from a good 2 - 1 win against hard-to-beat West Brom this week. I actually predicted a 1 – 1 draw for the Derby game and I wasn’t far off although, truth be told, Leeds once again dominated the match much as we’ve dominated almost every game this season. This time it was 61 percent possession, 17 shots to 4, 6 on target to just 1 and 9 corners to 2; that’s as dominant as any of our home games this season although those stats are remarkably similar to those from the recent Preston game which, of course ended 1 -1! 

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The two wins at Stoke and Derby have started to even up that perceived home and away record imbalance much as I suggested it would start to come right once we started to play some of the bottom half teams – Stoke and Derby are only the second and third of the current bottom ten teams we’ve played away from home, the other being Cardiff City who we also beat comfortably. I really do not think anyone can say that our away “form” has been worse than our home “form” – it is purely down to the calibre of the teams we’ve played away compared to those we’ve seen at ER!

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Anyway, to focus on the game today for a moment. Yes, we dominated from the start. But, once again, we found it hard to create many clear-cut openings and, when we did, that old lack of composure in front of goal was there to haunt us as it so often has done. An early chance fell to Mateo Joseph, latching onto a low Willy Gnonto cross but he stabbed it wide. He had another effort from the edge of the box but seemed to sort of scoop the ball rather than thump it and the keeper saved easily. For whatever reason MJ just doesn’t seem able to find his Spanish under 21 form in a Leeds shirt. Maybe he’s not cut out for this level of the game; I’m not sure.

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Those early misses must have given heart to Derby and, much like we saw at Stoke, there were odd moments when the home side could have grabbed an undeserved lead. A cross from the left wing seemed to have Illan Meslier beaten as it just drifted over him and faded past the back post.  Back came Leeds and a quick break was started from a Pascal Struijk interception. He passed to Aaronson who turned cleverly and found Willy Gnonto who touched it to Joseph. This time Mateo stunned the ball perfectly to Aaronson but Brenden smashed the bouncing ball way over the bar – again, something we’ve seen him do many times this season. Brenden’s composure had left him again. Another half-chance gone begging and it spoiled a tremendous move that went the length of the pitch.

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At the start of the second half it was much the same story. Ramazani got away down the left and crossed and the ball broke to Brenden again, this time it was no more than a half chance but again a composed finish might have seen the ball nestle in the net. As it was Brenden struck the ball straight at the keeper.

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We were well into the second half now and still the worry was that Derby might fashion something out of their meagre share of the possession. A header from a right wing Derby corner needed Meslier to claw it away from the top corner, evoking memories of that famous save he pulled off in the dying moments at Leicester last season. This felt just as vital. Still those half chances came for Leeds, the latest fell to Ramazani at the back post after Willy Gnonto somehow nudged the ball to him with his head from a Bogle pass in the box. A clean shot by the little winger and he was sure to score but he seemed to slip as he struck the ball and merely scuffed it too close to the keeper again.

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Leeds made their first changes in the 71st minute sending on James, Solomon and Piroe for Gnonto, Ramazani and Joseph and within seconds Solomon put Dan James away through the middle, one on one with Zetterstrom the Derby keeper. You would have bet your house on Dan burying this one.. but again Dan didn’t strike the ball well and he picked out the keeper and not the three and half yards of open goal either side of him! That really did make it feel like we were going to have to settle for a point in a game we’d bossed almost from the start. But, the football gods seem to be looking kindly on us lately and another scintillating period of Leeds possession finally did the trick.

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A dozen or so uninterrupted Leeds passes ended with a precise first-time  stabbed ball  in the box by Joel Piroe to find Brenden Aaronson nipping in behind the defence. This time he had composure in spades as he took a touch and then gently lifted the ball over the diving keeper. HE CAN DO IT… sometimes!

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Who knows how vital that goal and the extra two points it earned us will prove to be come next May but tonight it feels huge. Now, can we continue to press home the advantage we have given ourselves by continuing our impressive run of victories at Elland Road on New Year’s Day? We need to see the same sort of performance that did for Boro a couple of weeks ago; we thought they would be a tough nut to crack but we saw that one through comfortably enough in the end. Blackburn feels like a similar challenge. I’d guess we’ll have a rested Dan James, Joel Piroe and Manor Solomon starting for this one and with Rovers just running into some turbulence after their fine run, surely we’ve got the armoury to see them off too. Here’s hoping.

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