Carabao Cup

Leeds United 3 (Sinisterra 21’, Klich 32’ pen, 57’)

Barnsley 1 (Andersen 35’)

Leeds: Meslier (GK), Forshaw, Cooper (C) (Struijk 45’), Summerville, Llorente (Koch 45’), Sinisterra (Roca 62’), Gelhardt (Rodrigo 75’), Hjelde, Drameh, Greenwood (James 75’), Klich. Subs not used: Robles (GK), Aaronson, Harrison, Kristensen.

Barnsley: Walton (GK), Helliwell (Williams 63’), McCarthy, Andersen (c), Kitching, Oduor (Tedic 63’), Styles, Benson (Connell 80’), Thomas (Hondermarck 80’), Cole, Norwood (Wolfe 33’). Subs not used: Collins (GK), Cundy, Marsh, Aitchison.

Venue: Elland Road

Attendance: 35,472 (2,695 away)

Referee: John Brooks

Booked: Drameh, Hjelde (Leeds) Styles, Kitching, Williams (Barnsley)

Leeds United progressed into Round Three of the Carabao Cup under the lights at Elland Road, with a Yorkshire derby victory over League One side Barnsley. Goals from Luis Sinisterra and a Mateusz Klich double were enough to send Jesse Marsch’s side safely through.  

A sold-out crowd were ramping up the atmosphere once again in West Yorkshire, but it would be the visitors though who had the first chance of the match. A loose pass found Reds forward Devante Cole in space and the striker struck left-footed with power, but saw Illan Meslier save well. 

The first 20 minutes or so from thereon were a relatively quiet encounter, as both teams looked to settle into the match and exchanged possession at either end of the pitch, without either goalkeeper being troubled. 

However, when the clock ticked past the 20-minute mark, Elland Road was able to celebrate a stunner to open the scoring. Sinisterra picked up the ball, cut onto his right-foot and struck home an unstoppable effort from 25-yards into the far corner.  

Just a minute after - and with the passing and chances now arriving at pace - Sam Greenwood was played into the area and after collecting the clever pass, his low effort was well saved by Jack Walton in the Barnsley net. 

In the 30th minute, Sinisterra was continuing his impressive first start in a Whites shirt. He burst into the box and was then brought down by visiting defender Conor McCarthy, making referee John Brooks point straight to the penalty spot.

Stepping up to take the penalty, Klich made no mistake, picking his corner and sending Walton the wrong way to double the advantage and put Leeds two-goals ahead in this Carabao Cup clash. 

From their next attack though, Barnsley were back in the match with a goal of their own. Josh Benson whipped in a deep free-kick to the back post and the skipper Mads Andersen was there to direct a header into the bottom corner to reduce the deficit.

Then, with just a couple of minutes to go until half-time in this West versus South Yorkshire derby, Barnsley had a penalty of their own. Callum Styles was the player who had been fouled and the midfielder took the penalty himself, but struck his effort against the post!  

That second penalty of the first half would be the final chance of it, with the Whites taking a 2-1 lead in at the break. 

HALF TIME: Leeds United 2-1 Barnsley

Marsch made a double change during the break. Liam Cooper’s return from injury saw him gain a valuable 45 minutes, before being replaced by Pascal Struijk. In another defensive change, Robin Koch entered the action, taking Diego Llorente’s spot. 

Just 10 minutes into the second half, the two-goal advantage was restored. After the ball was superbly won back by Gelhardt in the build-up, Sinisterra picked it up and crossed low into the box, seeing the ball fall for Klich to curl into the back of the net, to get his second of the game!

That would be Sinisterra’s last action of the match as the winger was replaced by Marc Roca shortly after. The away side also made changes, with Matty Wolfe, Jordan Williams and Slobodan Tedic all coming on.

After getting the third, the Whites controlled the game for large parts, with the visitors keeping players behind the ball before looking to counter attack. Looking to add more firepower with 15 minutes to play, Rodrigo and Dan James were brought into the attack from the bench. 

In the closing stages of the match, the best attempt came from the recently introduced Roca. A short corner routine found the midfielder outside the box and he struck a thunderous effort which was dipping, but didn’t dip quite enough and landed on the roof of the net.  

One final chance came for the visitors but wasn’t taken. A cross from the left found Tedic alone in the box, but the on-loan forward planted his header wide from six-yards out. 

The final whistle sounded and sent the Whites in the Carabao Cup Third Round after this Yorkshire derby victory under the lights of Elland Road. 

FULL TIME: Leeds United 3-1 Barnsley