Daniel Farke's Leeds cruised to an emphatic 4-0 victory at shell-shocked Swansea to continue their brilliant start to 2024-and grab second place into the bargain.
Crysencio Summerville (eight mins), ex-Swan Joel Piroe (ten) and Willy Gnonto (35) put Leeds in the driving seat by half-time and Gnonto added his second on 72 minutes to seal the deal.
German boss Farke said: "It was a massive win on the road and perhaps the best execution of a game plan this season.
"Swansea are a good possession side so we knew we had to press them and we were spoton with that to create so many turnovers.
"We could have been more than 3-0 up at half-time and could have been more aggressive in the second half, but it was such a disciplined performance with a clean sheet that the players deserve huge praise. There's a great unity and team spirit here right now."
Southampton slipped back to third, albeit with a game in hand, after crashing to a 3-1 defeat at Bristol City. All the goals came in the second half at Ashton Game Sam Bell (52), Rob Dickie (72) and Harry Cornick (82) were on the mark for the Robins, while Adam Armstrong netted a consolation penalty for Saints in injury time. "I'm gutted and frustrated and it ends the run, but I'm so proud of the players and have so much love for them," Southampton boss Russell Martin told BBC Radio Solent.
"This actually wasn't that far away from being a really good performance. At half-time I thought we'd go on and win it as we had two better chances before they scored.
"But we conceded a rubbish goal for the first. We should have dealt with the cross better and we should have dealt with the corner for their second.
"We just need to make sure this is just a bump in the road.
This story is from the February 18, 2024 edition of The Football League Paper.
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This story is from the February 18, 2024 edition of The Football League Paper.
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