Leeds United 3-0 Birmingham City: YEP Reaction
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00:00 Good evening, everybody. Happy New Year to all you Leeds United fans.
00:04 Here at Ellen Road, where Leeds have got back to winning ways this afternoon
00:09 with a 3-0 victory, a really comprehensive, convincing win over Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City.
00:15 Goals from Patrick Bamford, Daniel James and Presenter Somerville,
00:18 delivering all three points to maintain Leeds' unbeaten run at home this season.
00:24 It was necessary that Leeds got back to winning ways today,
00:30 after back-to-back defeats against Preston and West Brom.
00:34 They really did a number on the Blues.
00:39 Wayne Rooney's team, and Wayne Rooney included, had a bit of a rough ride at Ellen Road this afternoon.
00:47 Could have been a very solemn figure in the away dugout did Rooney.
00:51 Lots of chants, not all of which were clean, to say the least, directed his way by the Leeds supporters,
00:57 which I'm sure many of you will be delighted to hear.
01:00 Some of you might have even partaken in them if you were at the ground today.
01:05 In terms of the football, we'll start with the line-up.
01:08 It was a bit of a surprise as Chris Classen, the third-choice goalkeeper,
01:12 was named in the starting 11 for Leeds this afternoon because of El Amelie serving his second match
01:19 of his three-game suspension.
01:22 Karl Darlow, we just found out from Daniel Farke,
01:25 he actually dissipated his thumb in the warm-up before the West Brom game,
01:30 but took a couple of painkillers, got it strapped up and wanted to play on.
01:34 Went for a scan afterwards and it was determined that he wouldn't be able to play today.
01:39 Doesn't really have a time frame for Darlow's return,
01:42 so it looks as though it would be Chris Classen again in goal at the weekend when Leeds go to Peterborough.
01:48 But he came in, didn't have an awful lot to do, but he made a couple of good saves.
01:52 Distribution was neither here nor there.
01:55 I've seen some people say it was hit and miss, I've seen others say that they quite liked it.
01:59 So, yes, a reasonable performance from him.
02:03 The other big headline news from the line-up was that Patrick Bamford started his first start of the season for Leeds
02:10 and popped up with a goal, his first at Ellen Road since that game against Crystal Palace.
02:16 I know that you won't want reminding of that day, but it was the first time that I think that he scored in a Leeds win for,
02:23 oh, it must be two and a bit years.
02:27 It was a long time coming and you could see the delight on his face.
02:31 You could see the delight on his teammates' faces as Bamford nodded in.
02:37 Dan James' cross, which was really hung up really well to the back post.
02:42 Bamford hangs in the air if you haven't seen the goal and just nods it towards John Ruddy.
02:48 Ruddy can't get enough of a hand on it and that's 1-0.
02:52 It was a reasonably even game up to that point.
02:56 Leeds did have the better of it, but from that point onwards, Leeds really did click into second, third and fourth gear
03:03 and really take Birmingham apart.
03:06 Second goal on the stroke of half-time from Daniel James himself.
03:12 There were a few occasions during the first half where Junior Firpo cut the ball back for James and just didn't quite fall for him.
03:20 But on this occasion, just on the stroke of half-time, it did.
03:23 He put the ball in the back of the net and that was 2-0 at the break, a comfortable lead
03:29 and one which they added to in the second half.
03:32 Presencio Somerville getting on the score sheet yet again.
03:36 He was really composed in his finish.
03:40 The ball came from Jorginho Ruta over the top, Firpo on the left-hand half-space,
03:45 getting into the box and then playing a low cross back to Somerville.
03:52 He takes a touch, picks his spot in the bottom corner and puts the game to bed, really.
03:57 The reason Firpo wasn't in the starting eleven, but he was in the game for 75 minutes or so
04:04 because Sam Byron had to come off after 15 minutes,
04:08 a recurrence of the hamstring injury that kept him out for four games last month.
04:12 Hopefully that's not too serious.
04:14 Farkad needs to properly assess that, or rather his medical team do.
04:18 And Pascal Stroik, it's likely or possible that he'll be back for the next league game,
04:25 but I don't think he'll be risked against Peterborough at the weekend in the FA Cup.
04:30 So it might be Cardiff away before we see Pascal Stroik back.
04:34 But honourable mentions today, Joe Roden was an absolute rock at the back.
04:39 Bossed it, really, really dealt with Birmingham's threat whenever they tried to play on transition.
04:46 He was there, he was pretty commanding, really, really assertive in his defensive work
04:52 and came away with the ball quite calmly on countless occasions.
04:57 So, all in all, a good performance from Leeds today. Start as you mean to go on.
05:04 If you want more reaction to today's game, head on over to the YEP website.
05:10 We have player ratings from Graham Smith on there,
05:13 there's some quotes from Wayne Rooney already up there,
05:16 and plenty of highlights from today's game.
05:19 But, yeah, thanks for tuning in. Take care and see you at Peterborough. Bye for now.