18th April 2026. English Premier League.
Oh goodness me! I’m not really enjoying watching these crunch end-of-season games, the pressure is getting to me, so I can’t begin to think what it’s like for the players! For the second game running, I spent much of the second half wishing the time away and longing for the final whistle… just in case it all went wrong...... That’s not enjoyment, it’s purgatory!
You would think that another two early goals against the team that is rock bottom and on the brink of relegation would have calmed the nerves, but, once again today, no sooner did we go two goals up than all the impetus we’d shown early on, all the aggressive press and positive running, seemed to fade away and, brilliant as we were in those first twenty minutes, thereafter we were decidedly stodgy, to borrow a description I heard mentioned behind me on the Kop this afternoon.
Similar to how we began at Old Trafford on Monday night, Leeds were ‘at it’ from the first whistle and, also similar to Monday, we should probably have been ahead after only a couple of minutes when Noah Okafor broke free and sent a perfect ball along the six-yard line for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Dom had to stretch, and he was under a challenge, admittedly, but I’m sure that had he been in red-hot goal-scoring knick, he’d have lifted the ball over Dan Bentley rather than slide it into the 'keeper, just as he did the other night with a similar chance. Another more difficult chance fell to DCL at the back post shortly after, just failing to poke a Pascal Struijk header over the line. Wolves looked in total disarray from every Leeds set piece.
The opening goal came on 18 minutes, and it was another example of 'Keystone Cops' defending by Wolves at a corner. Ao Tanaka swung it over, Jaka Bijol helped it towards the goal, where Ethan Ampadu lashed it at Bentley. The 'keeper somehow kept that out from point-blank range, but the rebound was then hooked back by Okafor, and James Justin performed a textbook overhead kick to volley past Bentley.
Two minutes later, and we were all in dreamland as ‘Okafor again Ole, Ole’ stole in to bury a Brenden Aaronson low cross with the same instinctive finishing he showed on Monday night. Brenden had been presented with the ball near the halfway line from a suicidal Wolves midfield pass; they were about as dire as the 'Salford Reds' were in the first half at Old Trafford! Wolves only really went close once in the first half – DCL heading clear from near the goal line.
The first half petered out, and I guess we all expected Leeds to come out for the second half all guns blazing again, but, for whatever reason, it didn’t pan out like that, maybe the tension and pressure was being felt by the players as much as by the fans. Leeds were poor throughout the second half, I thought, and it felt throughout that, if Wolves could get their act together, a sucker punch goal (or two) was entirely within their reach. Thankfully, they couldn’t get their act together, and it was easy to see why they languish at the foot of the table. Leeds’ lack of an aggressive press in the second half should have been punished, but Wolves only created a couple of openings; a glancing header by Ladislav Krejci from a right-wing corner that Karl Darlow miraculously pushed over the bar and a breakaway by Rodrigo Gomez that saw the lone wolf drag a weak shot left of the left post. It was a dire second half by both sides.
As the minutes ticked away, I’m sure the fans’ nerves eased a tad, but it was only for the final few minutes, once DCL had converted the penalty in front of the Kop, that we could really relax. The penalty came from a push on DCL(by the unfortunate Rodrigo Gomez) after substitute Willy Gnonto put a delicate little pass behind the visitors’ defence.
The news from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has helped to put our latest three points into context. It doesn’t really matter about that second-half performance; the result was everything, and in a pressure situation, we banked three more priceless points while Georginio Rutter took two off the Spurs. It’s a funny old game, isn’t it?
A point or more from our midweek trip to Bournemouth would now have us on the all-important 40-point mark, and a positive result there would surely set us up for a decent tilt at Wembley against a Chelsea side that appears to be in freefall! Securing our top-flight status AND a semi-final win in the same week… Now that would be something to write home about!
Premier League
Leeds United 3 (Justin 18’, Okafor 20’, Calvert-Lewin pen 90’)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Leeds: Darlow (GK), Bogle, Gudmundsson (Rodon 90’), Ampadu (C), Struijk, Calvert-Lewin (Nmecha 90’), Aaronson (Gruev 78’), Bijol, Okafor (Gnonto 67’), Tanaka (Longstaff 90’), Justin. Subs not used: Perri (GK), Piroe, Bornauw, Buonanotte.
Wolves: Bentley (GK), H Bueno, S Bueno, André, J Gomes, Armstrong, Toti (C), Bellegarde (R Gomes 67’), Krejcí (Hee-Chan 75’), Tchatchoua (Lima 46’), A Gomes (Mané 38’). Subs not used: Brooks (GK), Møller Wolfe, Arokodare, Olagunju, Edozie.
Venue: Elland Road
Attendance: 36,840
Referee: Farai Hallam
Booked: Aaronson, Justin (Leeds) H Bueno (Wolves)
