17th January 2026. English Premier League.
Before every game since that famous Etihad half-time Renaissance, I’ve been fearful that we would suddenly produce a sub-standard performance and that all the nagging doubts would return. But now we’ve strung ten superb performances together, one after the other, that’s more than a quarter of the season, and, barring that mad-cap game at St. James’s Park, we’ve turned those superb performances into points against many decent teams. The feeling is therefore growing in me that we might actually keep playing this well for the rest of the season. Why not? And, if we can, we will surely reach a position of safety come next May, regardless of what other teams might achieve. Let’s hope so anyway.
With the four sides below us all having tough-looking games this weekend, I always felt this could be a turning point for Leeds, a chance to stretch our lead over the bottom three to a mighty eleven points. Well, football never ceases to surprise, of course, and it didn’t pan out quite like that – West Ham winning at Spurs was not on my radar at all, and neither was Burnley getting a point at Liverpool. But, in hindsight, our win today was actually even more vital to at least keep those pesky Hammers at arm's length.
The first half today was a cagey affair – Fulham seemingly adopting a ‘let’s keep what we’ve got’ attitude from the first minutes, time wasting and not afraid to resort to a professional foul now and again if they got stretched. It was a bit like many of the games we witnessed at Elland Road last season. The statistics were pretty even in that first 45 minutes too, proving the point – five goal attempts each, one on target each, two corners apiece and the only stat where Fulham outscored us was in giving those fouls away – 6 for them and just two against Leeds. The only big chance of the first half fell to Brenden Aaronson, put through by Jayden Bogle, with only the keeper to beat. You’d have put your house on him scoring as he’d recently been doing, but this time he ballooned his shot over the bar. It was more like the Brenden we got used to early in the season and not the dead-eyed Dick we’ve seen lately.
Before the game, we paid tribute to the great Terry Yorath, and after the break, we put together a performance that he and those Revie legends would have recognised as very much a vintage Leeds United performance, dogged and determined and ultimately successful.
A glance at the momentum chart for the second half shows that Fulham hardly had any at all! It was pretty much all Leeds once we’d weathered a few early forays into our territory by the Cottagers. DCL almost put us ahead when he connected with an Aaronson right-wing cross at the front post, but put it inches wide, then Gabby Gudmundson was put through in the inside-left channel, but he did what Brenden did and snatched at the shot and sent it over the bar when he ought to have at least made the keeper work for it. James Justin got through the middle to fire straight at the keeper, and I’m sure many fans were starting to think it wouldn’t be our day, and we all held our breath when Emile Smith Rowe latched onto a headed clearance by Karl Darlow about 30 yards out, but thankfully, he lofted that wide of the target with Darlow stranded and soon the game reverted to the one-sided contest we’d seen since the break.
Calvert-Lewin was next to try his luck, again straight down the keeper’s throat. By this time, Leeds had turned to Willy Gnonto and Lukas Nmecha to try to unlock the Londoners’ stubborn defence, and it worked. Daniel Farke has seen most of his recent changes work to perfection.
Nmecha’s first effort was a glancing header from a left-wing corner, just over the bar, before we moved into 4 minutes of added time. Leeds fans, I’m sure, were divided between those thinking Fulham might snatch an undeserved win in added time, just as they did at the Cottage earlier this season and those who were hoping and praying that Lady Luck would even things up after that unlucky Gudmundson header in that reverse fixture! Thankfully, the latter group had their prayers answered.
It started off a bit scratchily, Leeds scrapping for the ball midway in the Fulham half, players slipping, losing the ball, winning it back and then suddenly Ao Tanaka brought some composure to the game with a slide-rule pass out to the overlapping Ethan Ampadu on the right, his first time cross was met at the back post by Nmecha, doing his best DCL impression and he got in front of his marker to swipe the ball into the net. It was that dogged determination to get to the ball first that Nmecha showed. Leeds had the goal we were all praying for. Seconds later, Nmecha was only denied a second by a fine save from Bernd Leno, touching a fierce drive over the bar.
The second half was as dominant a performance as we’ve seen from Leeds – nine shots to three, four on target to none, four big chances to none, and five corners to one. It was a performance that deserved the three points, and all credit to Leeds for going for the win when Fulham tried to sit on what they had with a series of defensive-minded substitutions.
That West Ham result was a blow, admittedly, (2-1 at Spurs) but if we continue to play like this, we’ll sort out our future ourselves without any help from others. Now then, how about a win at Everton? I make it one win in our last 16 visits to Goodison, and we weren’t allowed to be present for that one! … Maybe the Hill Dickinson will be luckier for us!
Premier League
Leeds United 1 (Nmecha 90+1’)
Fulham 0
Leeds: Darlow (GK), Bogle (Nmecha 81’), Gudmundsson, Ampadu (C), Struijk, Rodon, Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson (Bornauw 90+3’), Okafor (Gnonto 70’), Justin, Gruev (Tanaka 81’). Subs not used: Perri (GK), Longstaff, Piroe, Byram, Buonanotte.
Fulham: Leno (GK), Andersen, Jiménez (Kusi-Asare 88’), Wilson (Diop 88’), Cuenca, Berge, Lukic (Cairney 66’), Castagne, Sessegnon (Kevin 65’), Smith Rowe (King 77’), Robinson. Subs not used: Lecomte (GK), Reed, Traoré, Amissah.
Venue: Elland Road
Attendance: 36,300
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh
Booked: Ampadu (Leeds) Castagne, Lukic, Wilson, Cuenca, Kusi-Asare (Fulham)
