Things around Elland Road are starting to come together as a ten-man Leeds defeated Swindon Town 3-1 today.
As noted on numerous occasions, the key to the Leeds attack is, well, attacking at will, keeping the opposition on their heels and making sure Fabian Delph is stamped into the midfield and the Luciano Becchio continues to create openings in the attacking front. Gary McAllister made the right choice in pairing up Frazer Richardson, Rui Marques, Paul Telfer, Alan Sheehan in the back four and while it ended with an unfortunate expulsion of Alan Sheehan to a early red-card, it is a step forward in the promotion efforts.
Leeds day didn't start well as Alan Sheehan received a red card at the eight minute mark for a foolish challenge on Jon-Paul McGovern. Handicapped with a player down, Leeds continued to go on the assault and at the twenty-minute mark Jermaine Beckford broke the scoring after Swindon Town didn't clear a Neil Kilkenny cross properly. Simon Cox leveled the match with a nifty header just before the break but Leeds came out fast right after. Neil Kilkenny put Leeds ahead to stay with a shocker goal that came off the Swindon 'keeper bobbling a free kick and it finding its way into the net. With the lead, Leeds went into a more defensive formation and brought in Jonny Howson and David Prutton, putting Jermaine Beckford as the lone striker. With five minutes left in the match, Jermaine added his second goal of the match and the day came to a near-perfect ending.
Leeds has a short week as they face Hartpool in a Carling Cup match on Tuesday.
Leeds lineup
David Lucas
Frazer Richardson, Rui Marques, Paul Telfer, Alan Sheehan (D
Neil Kilkenny (David Prutton 58'), Jonathan Douglas, Fabian Delph, Andy Hughes
Jermaine Beckford (Robert Snodgrass 85'), Luciano Becchio (Jonny Howson 58')