Leeds Player Ratings: West Brom u23s 0 - 5 Leeds u23s.

Leeds United’s u23 side produced yet another great performance as they won 5-0 away at West Bromwich Albion. A Joe Gelhardt hat-trick was added to by Crysencio Summerville and Sam Greenwood to move the Whites one step closer to the title.

Leeds were the better side throughout the first half and got the goals to show for it. Joe Gelhardt scored from the penalty spot after a foul on Crysencio Summerville, before getting his second with a good finish across the keeper, having been played in by Summerville. Leeds had plenty of other efforts on goal and could easily have had a bigger lead at the break.

Leeds got their third 10 minutes into the second half, and so did Joe Gelhardt. Gelhardt was fouled for a penalty after a lovely piece of passing football from Leeds, Gelhardt took the penalty himself and placed it past the keeper. For giving away the penalty, George Harmon was given a second yellow card.

Leeds made it four through Crysencio Summerville, after he was played through by Ian Poveda with an excellent pass. Then, Sam Greenwood made it five with an absolute screamer of a free-kick - which you have to watch, it will be embedded below his rating.

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 LINEUP

Elia Caprile - Simple save early on, which was his only action of the first half. Made a good save early in the second half. Distribution was fine. 6.5/10

Jamie Shackleton - Not as in the game as Davis in the first half, but got forward well and had an impact. Particularly unlucky with one driven cross that took out the whole defence but no-one got on the end of. Moved into midfield once Cody Drameh came on. Energy helped drive Leeds on for more goals. 7.5/10

Oliver Casey - Booked for a clash of heads with the keeper, which was odd, and left him with a Kisnorbo style bandage. Solid performance in the first half before being replaced by Cresswell. 6.5/10

Gaetano Berardi - Calm on the ball at the back and showed his passing range with a great cross-field ball to Davis that resulted in a good chance. A few good tackles and good blocks. Good performance. 7.5/10

Leif Davis - Had an early header saved. Set up the first big chance for Jack Jenkins with a good run and pullback down the left. Got forward really well down the left and was able to get into good shooting and crossing positions, could have had a goal himself but for some good goalkeeping. 7/10

Robin Koch - Solid in the DM role but didn’t stand out much as he had little to do. Booked for cynically stopping a counter attack. 6.5/10

Ian Poveda - A bit quiet at times but did fine until 70 minutes where he lit up the game with a fantastic assist to set up Summerville for the fourth goal and was Leeds main threat with his ability to run at players. 7.5/10

Jack Jenkins - Had a good chance early on which he didn’t catch properly. Excellent pressing to win the ball on the edge of the WBA box for the second goal. Brilliant one-two with Gelhardt in the build up to the penalty being won for the 3rd goal. Moved into the DM role for the second half, much like Koch, was quiet then. 7.5/10

Sam Greenwood - Good pressing to win the ball high up the pitch leading to the penalty. Looks comfortable with the central midfield role now, and was playing deeper than Jenkins at times. Topped his game off with an unbelievable free-kick to make it 5-0 - one of the goals of the season. 8/10

Crysencio Summerville - Started on the left. Won the early penalty for the first goal. Got the assist for the second goal. Went close himself with a couple of shots in the first half. Involved in the build up to the third goal. Scored the fourth goal with a well timed run and a good finish. Definitely someone who should see some first team action before the season is out, even if only briefly. 8.5/10

Joe Gelhardt - Had a quiet opening 15 minutes before giving Leeds the lead from the penalty spot. Got more involved after that. Scored his and Leeds’ second goal with an excellent finish across the keeper. Great one-two with Jenkins before being fouled for a penalty - took it himself and scored to complete his hat-trick. His involvement in build up play was great in addition to his goals. 9.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Charlie Cresswell (for Casey, HT) - Had nothing to do in defence, passing was kept simple. 6.5/10

Cody Drameh (for Koch, 60mins) - Not forced to do any defending. Got forward down the right when he could. 6.5/10

Liam McCarron (for Summerville, 76mins) - Game was dead by the point he came on. Did fine, had one great chance saved well by Boruc. N/A