Leeds Player Ratings - Derby 1 - 4 Leeds

Leeds United put Derby County to the sword with an emphatic 4-1 victory at Pride Park.

Leeds took the lead early through a fantastic goal from Poland international Mateusz Klich but were pegged back by a well struck free-kick from Tom Lawrence. Leeds reacted well to the setback and retook the lead through an excellent Kemar Roofe header to go in ahead at half-time.

Then, the second half. Wow. The headlines are a second Kemar Roofe goal and a header from Ezgjan Alioski but the main thing I want to express is how good Leeds were from about 50mins to 75mins.

Time now to look at each player and how they performed. As always you can tell me how wrong I am @mightywhitespod or @ThruItAllLUFC on twitter.

STARTING LINE-UP

Bailey Peacock-Farrell - Really should have saved the free-kick from Tom Lawrence, will be disappointed to have conceded that one. It was a good free-kick, but it appeared that BPF misjudged the flight a bit and mistimed his jump. Second half, solid. Overall, distribution not as strong as last weekend. 6/10

Luke Ayling - Had a solid start but got wrong side and missed the ball from a throw-in, leading to the free-kick for Tom Lawrence’s goal. Made some excellent tackles and got forward really well. Although this did lead to Leeds getting caught short down their right hand side a couple of times. Strong in the air first half too.

Second half started well, got forward well at back post and his knock down should have been scored by Roofe. Went close with the rebound to the Roofe chance and had a decent effort from range that wasn’t that far away. Continued to be great in the tackle and in the air second half. One error, and that shouldn’t have lead to a goal really. Overall, had a really good game. 8/10

Gaetano Berardi - Had a bit of a sloppy start to the first half, improved a bit but struggled physically against Martyn Waghorn. Better in the second half. A few strong tackles and passed the ball well. 7.5/10

Liam Cooper - Gave away the free-kick for Lawrence’s goal, wasn’t a great tackle but Leeds were a bit short at the back at the time. Made a lot of good tackles in the game. Another really solid performance from the Leeds captain. Great long free-kick to find Hernandez in the build up to Alioski’s goal as well. 8/10

Barry Douglas - Started similarly to last week. Did brilliantly to recycle possession and find Alioski in the build up to Leeds’ second goal. Great piece of defending to get back in and make an interception when Craig Bryson was going to be clean through on goal. Not a great deal to say second half but was had a fine half. 8/10

Kalvin Phillips - Took about 10 minutes to get going but as the half went on he got a little more into the game, played a couple of nice switches of play to set up Leeds attacks. Early in the second half, had Tom Lawrence pinned but allowed him to get the cross in too easily. Outside of that had a good half, got forward a touch more second half with Klich dropping in, did good work in the build up to Leeds third goal. 8/10

Mateusz Klich - Scored a fantastic goal with a curling effort from 25-yards to give Leeds and early lead. Seemed to be everywhere first half, won the ball a lot and always seemed to be available for a pass in attack. Got the assist for Roofe’s second goal although (much like the assist for his own goal) it had much more to do with the finisher than the passer. Another great performance. 8.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Fantastic cross to set up Roofe’s goal, the sort of cross we probably don’t see him get right often enough. Was tidy for the rest of the first half. Got Leeds fourth goal with a firm header from a Pablo Hernandez cross. Work rate really good as usual. 8/10

Samu Saiz - Looked Leeds biggest threat early on, getting the ball on the half-turn in between Derby’s defensive and midfield lines. Did some good work in the build up to Klich’s opener. Derby soon resorted to simply kicking him. Richard Keogh and Joe Ledley were booked for fouls on him in the first half and Tom Lawrence really should have been, The treatment seemed to inspire Saiz if anything in the first half, where he showed more workrate and defensive ability than you normally see from him.

A bit less involved second half but still good. One awful attempt at a chip. Tired a bit towards the end of the match. First half better than his second. 8.5/10

Pablo Hernandez - Not as involved as some of those around him in the first half but still looked dangerous. Got the assist from Klich’s goal but that was a fairly simple pass followed by a fantastic strike. Looked creative early in the second half but his assist for Alioski’s goal had as much to do with his determination. Chased a long free-kick from Liam Cooper when Derby’s defence gave up on it, dug out a great cross for Alioski to head home. Comes away with two assists and another good performance. 8.5/10

Kemar Roofe - Fairly quiet opening 20 minutes, then scored a terrific header back across the goalkeeper from Alioski’s cross to give Leeds a 2-1 lead. Showed excellent movement for the goal and made good runs in behind to give Leeds options and stretch the defence.

Missed a really good chance 10 minutes in to the second half after good work from Saiz and a great knock down from Ayling, goes down under a “had to score” level of chance. However, he made up for it a few minutes later. Picked up a pass from Klich, the pass was behind him but a tremendous first touch and a great left-foot finish stretched Leeds lead to 3-1. His second goal was a real touch of class. Man of the Match. 9/10

SUBSTITUTES

Jamie Shackleton (For Klich, 72mins) - Some nice touches and looked to have a pace advantage over Derby’s midfield. Good to see him get some game time. Could start v Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup on Tuesday. 6.5/10

Patrick Bamford (For Roofe, 78mins) - Seemed to try a little bit too hard to impress. Got a poor rub of the green from the referee. A couple of nice touches but picked up a yellow card for a bit of a needless foul. 6/10

Lewis Baker (For Samu Saiz, 86mins) - Not on long enough. N/A