Kyle Newbould: I Watched Leeds United’s 1-0 win vs Fulham - here are my 3 key conclusions
Lessons learned from Leeds United’s late victory over Fulham.
Leeds United vs Fulham produced late drama once again but this time, it was Daniel Farke’s side enjoying it. Gabriel Gudmundsson was inconsolable after an own-goal saw his side lose 1-0 at Craven Cottage in September but on Saturday, he was celebrating a much-deserved victory.
Gudmundsson was one of several Leeds players to miss chances and it was left to substitute Lukas Nmecha to grab the added-time winner. Ethan Ampadu’s brilliant run and cross was too tempting an opportunity to pass up, with the striker getting in front of Timothy Castagne and poking an effort beyond Bernd Leno.
Victory keeps Leeds eight points above the drop, with West Ham winning 2-1 at a miserable Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Below are the YEP’s key conclusions from a dramatic late win.
January transfer rethink might be needed
As of Farke’s pre-game press conference on Thursday, Leeds were only due to be without Daniel James against Fulham but between that point and 1.45pm on Saturday, their luck turned. Rumours that Anton Stach and Jaka Bijol had both picked up injuries were confirmed when the team news came out and neither were on it.
"It's predicted three to five weeks, we will see. Let's see how it develops,” Farke said of Bijol after full-time. “Important player for us. If there would be a set-back with Jaka's rehab late in January we would react. But until then I'm fine. If something strange happens I think we should react but at the moment there's no need for panic."
Elland Road chiefs aren’t thought to be prioritising a defensive arrival this month - links to Union Berlin’s Danilho Doekhi were little more than general interest - but Bijol’s injury could change that quite quickly. Leeds will surely be weighing up the need for centre-back reinforcements over the next couple of weeks.
£10m a bargain for James Justin
While there is no reason to settle with what you have, Leeds never really looked like they were missing a key defender on Saturday and that is credit to James Justin. The full-back dropped into Joe Rodon’s right centre-back spot against Fulham, with Rodon moving into the middle and Pascal Struijk on the left.
Justin has been excellent at right wing-back in the absence of Jayden Bogle and looked equally comfortable covering at centre-back, his ability to flick between the two perfect for that role. Against Fulham, he was alongside Rodon and Struijk when defending but free to bomb forward in wide areas when Leeds had the ball, doing so with plenty of joy.
There were some questions raised when Leeds spent £10m on right-back cover, but with Justin also first-choice back-up on the left it looked a better deal, particularly given recent form. Now it looks like a really smart piece of business for insurance virtually across the entire defensive unit.
Daniel Farke’s substitution bravery rewarded
After replacing Noah Okafor with Willy Gnonto, Farke took off Bogle and Ilia Gruev for Ao Tanaka and Lukas Nmecha - a pointedly attacking change. A few minutes later, Fulham boss Marco Silva replaced Harry Wilson with centre-back Issa Diop and the braver manager got his reward.
"It was quite risky,” Farke admitted of the changes. “But the gut feeling is we wanted to go for it and to send the message, although we have missed chances, we will be rock solid and we'll score this goal we need. That Lukas is in the spotlight and scored in a fantastic manner is fantastic."
Saturday was not the first time in recent weeks Farke has been rewarded for attacking changes and it is testament to the growing confidence inside Elland Road he feels able to do so. Huge credit to him for showing such bravery and a hat-tip to Nmecha for making it worth the while.