Leeds Player Ratings: Southampton 0 - 2 Leeds. Leeds secure top-half finish with Bamford and Roberts goals.

Leeds United continued their excellent form with a 2-0 win at St. Mary’s against Southampton. Second half goals from Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts put Leeds up to 8th in the league, and guarantee a top-half finish in their first season back in the Premier League.

The first half was low on quality, and Southampton were the better side. Kiko Casilla had to make a couple of decent saves from Che Adams, with Stuart Dallas having Leeds one decent chance.

Leeds were more of a threat in the second half and had a few chances, and James Ward-Prowse went close with a free-kick which hit the angle of post and bar. There was a big talking point when Patrick Bamford was played in behind by Raphinha, he went round Alex McCarthy and was fouled but stayed on his feet and it came to nothing. One of those where you wonder what VAR is for?

Leeds did take the lead with 20 minutes to go. Rodrigo clipped a lovely pass over the top for Patrick Bamford and he squeezed the ball in from a tight angle. After that, Leeds had to defend a bit but sealed the game in stoppage time. Kiko Casilla released Raphinha with an excellent piece of distribution, he broke and found Tyler Roberts who lost out but it came to Bamford who was denied by the keeper. The rebound fell to Tyler Roberts who finished calmly.

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

Kiko Casilla - Good early save from a Che Adams header. Another from Nathan Tella soon after, flag was up but he wasn’t to know that. Had an iffy moment after 16 minutes when he came off his line as Walcott ran in behind but got nowhere near it. Decent save from Adams on 36 minutes, but he then flapped at the resulting corner presenting Tella with a chance. Quieter in the second half, another bad flap at a corner, before a fantastic piece of quick distribution to release Raphinha in stoppage time resulting in Leeds’ second goal. 7.5/10

Luke Ayling - Defended well throughout and was solid in possession too. Seemed the calmest of the defenders throughout the game and looked better when he moved from the right of a back three to the middle of it. 7.5/10

Diego Llorente - Not at his best in the opening 15 minutes but got up to pace. Good piece of defending against Nathan Tella when Leeds looked in trouble. Won most of his 1v1 duels in the first half. A couple of dribbles out from the back, one of which was really something to watch. 7/10

Liam Cooper - Didn’t start well, his passing out from the back in the first half wasn’t up to his usual standard. Leeds struggled in midfield first half which won’t have helped the defenders when on the ball. Was very good in the tackle at some key points. Better for the last hour than the first 30 minutes and by the end had more than played his part in another good clean sheet. 7/10

Stuart Dallas - Dragged Leeds first real chance wide. Had a stunning effort tipped wide by McCarthy early in the second half. Not his best but played alright. 6/10

Kalvin Phillips - Booked for a foul on Tella, Leeds midfield struggled in the first half. He did ok. 6/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Made a few good tackles but also looked a bit sloppy in possession and lost the ball in a couple of bad areas. Had less of an effect going forward than you’d like. 6/10

Raphinha - A couple of bright moments in the first half but not in the game enough. Great ball over the top to put Bamford through just before the hour mark. Had one disallowed for a correct offside call against Bamford that he finished well. Played a big part in the second goal as Leeds put some gloss on the win, and only a very good save denied him a goal late on. 6.5/10

Rodrigo - Got lost in Leeds’ press a couple of times in the opening quarter of the game but had some good moments on the ball. Excellent lofted pass to set up Bamford for the opening goal. Seemed to get better off the ball as the game went on. 7/10

Jack Harrison - Disciplined chasing back with Kyle Walker-Peters who pushed up a lot. As with Alioski, quiet going forward. 6/10

Patrick Bamford - Quiet first half but got through lots of work off the ball. Punished for honesty when he rounded Alex McCarthy and was fouled but stayed on his feet - it was a penalty. Took advantage of an excellent Rodrigo pass, and some sloppy defending/goalkeeping, to put Leeds 1-0 up. His shot was parried to Roberts for the second goal, and he could easily have had an assist when he played in Raphinha late on. 7.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Gaetano Berardi (for Llorente, HT) - A Premier League debut for the former Switzerland international. Solid both on the ball and defensively. 6.5/10

Pascal Struijk (for Phillips, HT) - Put himself into plenty of tackles, even after being booked for a cynical one on Stuart Armstrong. 6.5/10

Tyler Roberts (for Rodrigo, 78mins) - Put himself about which was necessary. Really pleased to see him get his first Premier League goal late on with a calm finish. Not on long enough to give a score but a goal as a late sub is always good. N/A