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Leeds United took a huge step towards Premier League safety on Friday night and Ross Heppenstall was there to witness it.
It will take a few more drops of blood and gallons of sweat, but survival is now within touching distance for Leeds United after Friday’s 3-1 home win over Burnley.
That is not to belittle the ambition or desire within Elland Road, but when the season kicked off last August, the goal for Daniel Farke’s newly-promoted side was clear: survival.
Beating the drop has proved notoriously difficult for teams who have come up from the Championship in recent years.
It is perhaps easy to forget that Leeds have spent just four of the past 22 seasons in English football’s top flight.
So the jubilation which greeted the victory over relegated Burnley, who were automatically promoted with Leeds last season, was understandable.
At the final whistle, Farke and his players took the acclaim of the raucous home crowd and the Whites boss performed his now customary victory wave celebrations to all four sides of the ground.
The result moved the Whites side to 43 points, above Newcastle and nine points clear of Tottenham, before the rest of the weekend’s top-flight fixtures.
No side has gone down with that points total in the Premier League era, yet Farke said: “We’ll celebrate once it’s mathematically done.
But I don’t want to stop on 43 points because we’re in such good shape so let’s keep going.
I’m so proud of my players and have to give them so many compliments.
Our mentality, work ethic and unity is second to none. Staying up would be a massive achievement.”
Anton Stach set the Whites on their way with a stunning long-range opener early on, before second-half goals from Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin confirmed a handsome win.
Leeds have thrown plenty of punches and bloodied a few noses along the way this season.
A club that continues to intrigue are starting to feel relevant again.
They are indeed back – back on the Premier League map where they will hope to gradually re-establish themselves in the coming seasons.
These could be exciting times for Leeds, with the redevelopment of Elland Road set to increase capacity from 37,645 to 53,000.
Nevertheless, the champagne will remain on ice until their safety is mathematically assured, with trips to Tottenham and West Ham still to come.
The Whites fell short against Chelsea in last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final and there was no mistaking the disappointment from their legions of supporters.
Victory over a Burnley side who parted company with manager Scott Parker on Thursday was not always pretty.
There were seven bookings but the result was never in doubt, with Leeds winning for the third time in their last four Premier League games.
In the eighth minute, the imposing Stach collected possession from defender Jaka Bijol around 30 yards from goal and hit a low, left-foot shot which arrowed into the bottom corner of Martin Dubravka’s net.
It was his fifth goal since joining Leeds last summer and Farke said: “Anton’s a bit weird and a crazy guy and he can be sleepy and cheeky but he delivers quality performances.
He looks like a mixture of Peter Crouch and I don’t know who but he is bloody effective!”
Leeds continued to threaten Burnley – playing under interim head coach Mike Jackson following Parker’s exit – and half chances proliferated in front of the visitors’ goal.
Calvert-Lewin and Okafor gave Burnley’s backline plenty to think about, but it was not until seven minutes after the break when Leeds scored a second.
And what a delightful goal it was, with Calvert-Lewin running hard inside the right channel before outfoxing a number of visiting defenders with a cute backheel, which found Jayden Bogle advancing forward in space.
The wing-back clipped a perfect cross to the far post where Okafor – the two-goal hero of Leeds’ recent win at Old Trafford – was on hand to fire home in clinical fashion.
The hosts had their third when Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka fired goalwards before seeing his effort repelled by Dubravka.
Who had the desire and strength to be first to the rebound and fire home?
It was Calvert-Lewin, a player reborn this season under Farke.
At 3-0 up and cruising, Elland Road belted out the name of their manager and Farke responded with a wave to the crowd.
Burnley pulled a goal back through Loum Tchaouna’s well-taken shot past Karl Darlow, but it did little to dampen the feelgood factor around Elland Road. Leeds, meanwhile, can start planning for another top-flight campaign, but Farke added cautiously: “Let’s finish this step towards mathematically securing safety and then we can speak about the future.”
Photography by Ross Heppenstall. Tech issues by Leeds Living.
