There were three victories in three league matches for Leeds United’s teams over the Remembrance weekend.
Daniel Farke’s men deservedly ran out 1-0 winners over Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road, eventually taking the lead through substitute Noah Okafor after dominating in the second half on Saturday afternoon.
Less than two minutes after getting the nod from the boss, the Swiss attacker latched onto Harry Wilson’s flick, took a touch to race past a defender and lashed home a powerful strike, sparking wild scenes inside the ground.
“It is amazing to come in, to score and to get the three points,” the attacker said. “Really important for us. But, yeah, a good team performance. We just have to keep going like this. I saw the whole crowd was in a good mood and we had chances. I was warming up. I was feeling the fire in my body so I wanted just to come in and, if I had a chance, try to score for the team. I am really happy about this.
“Always when you score it is emotional. I have to say a big thank you to everyone, to the coach, to the coaching staff, everyone, because they pushed me to be at least a little bit part of the team today, because of my small injury last week. I was until yesterday still a question mark. I spent one time with the team and it shows me how much the coach and everyone trusts me. And when I can give the trust back, like with a goal and with a win, there is nothing better.”
On Sunday, Simon Wood’s Women continued a blistering start to the new FA WNL Division One North campaign with a 2-0 victory over Durham Cestria. Brittany Sanderson and Darcie Greene were on target for the Whites who have now taken 25 of 27 points available this term.
Discussing the result, the boss explained: “It was a really good performance against a really good, youthful, energetic team. We knew what Durham were going to bring in terms of the problems they could cause, especially across the whole pitch. We got off to the perfect start with an early goal but I think there were moments where we built really well. Getting the second goal gave us a platform going into the second half.
“It was a really professional performance by a good group of players that are starting to form that habit of what winning takes at this level. When we started seeing threats, we just cancelled them out. I think that is a real strength of ours at the minute. We needed a squad where, if a change was made or someone was unavailable, we were never getting weaker. That is a real strength of ours at the minute, the depth we have and the impact players are making.”
Rounding off a fantastic weekend was our Under-21s who dismantled AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League 2. After trailing early on, five goals fired Scott Gardner’s side to a terrific victory in York.
On target was midfielder Alfie Cresswell, who was full of praise for his team-mates afterwards, telling LUTV: “It was a great performance. At the start, we had 20 minutes where we were struggling for a bit but then we got back the momentum and scored a few good goals. The boys are doing great. We are just focused on getting a few wins in a row now. We have been losing a bit but now hoping we can get back [to our best].”
How does this week look?
With the international break impacting our Men’s, U21s and U18s teams, our sole fixture this week sees Leeds United Women take on Norton & Stockton Ancients on Sunday at the BD Community Stadium.
Kick-off is at 2pm and tickets are priced at £6 for adults and £4 for five to 16-year-olds, with the game free to Under-5s. The encounter is also live for everyone to watch across LUTV and social media.
