Leeds United boss Daniel Farke delighted with 'complicated' win over Hull City

The Whites were not at their best against a good footballing Hull City team, but dug out another home win to continue their unbeaten run and respond to victories earlier in the day by rivals Leicester and Ipswich that really piled the pressure on.

It was touch and go with the game still level with four minutes to go, but a Crysencio Summerville penalty followed by a spectacular Dan James goal sealed a crucial 3-1 victory.

"I think there's no doubt it was a well deserved win," said manager Farke.

"We had six times the amount of expected goals they had, but it was complicated due to many reasons.

“It was the third game in six days for many of my players, with a relentless schedule, then we had many players with problems on the pitch.

“Glen Kamara played more or less ill but I wanted him to go through this game. Cree Summerville had some problems, we had a short morning session and Joe Rodon played with painkillers – he had some back spasms. Sam Byram told me at half-time he couldn't sprint any more.

“Thank God Jamie Shackleton is back but he's more or less without game rhythm for ages and I wanted to have Sam with his maturity and strength and set pieces on the pitch for as long as possible."

Farke was delighted with the win against a Hull side he rates.

He added: "We played a really good side, really good possession side.

"Their results against the top sides, they never lose, they're either with a win or a draw because they have many good footballers.

“They set traps and if you go and press them too much they can hurt you by attacking the space in behind with lots of quality. It's a really good side and we didn't want to go into this trap.

“We allowed them a bit more possession, in areas where they couldn't hurt us, but we were a bit too poor in possession ourselves. You can lose nerves but we stayed mentally strong.

“It was important in the second half to play a bit more aggressive. We put more and more pressure on them, could have and should have scored and then thank God with the penalty and the third goal we earned the win. In a pretty tight game I'm pleased with this."

Leeds made the better start before the pattern of play was to emerge and Archie Gray – playing in midfield – played a smart one-two with James only to send his angled shot over.

The Whites went ahead in the tenth minute as a fantastic mazy run in midfield by Georginio Rutter led to him slipping Summerville in down the wing. The United top scorer then saw his shot parried by keeper Ryan Allsop, but from the rebound Sam Byram headed home from close range to finish a move he had started.

It should have been two 13 minutes later when Patrick Bamford somehow missed from five yards out with the goal gaping after he met James' low cross.

But it then became a nervy affair for home fans with Hull having much more of the possession and winning the midfield battle.

They did not create anything of note chances wise, however, until Tyler Morton got in behind the home defence and his cross was flicked in at the near post by Hull's on-loan from Liverpool striker Fabio Carvalho.

Leeds stuck at it and Junior Firpo saw a shot deflected wide then an incredible scramble somehow ended up without a Leeds goal. Rutter had two close range efforts well blocked by Allsop and when Glen Kamara then teed up Summerville his shot was blocked by teammate Bamford.

The pattern of play was initially the same after the break with the visitors having more of the ball, but the Whites doing more with what possession they had.

James went on a dangerous run at the City defence, but saw his shot cut out by a defender. At the other end danger man Jaden Philogene flashed a shot just wide.

Ozan Tufan went close with a near post header that sent the ball onto the top of the net and Abdulkadir Omar's curling shot went narrowly wide.

The only response was a poor Rutter shot that went wide. United did have a big shout for a penalty when Gray went down in the box, but replays showed that the defender got a touch on the ball before making contact with the home player.

Philogene continued to look dangerous for the visitors with a strike from outside the box that was not far away.

But Leeds grabbed the game by the horns in the closing 20 minutes and came within a whisker of a second goal as substitute Mateo Joseph hit the post with a shot from a Firpo cross. When the ball was played back in Firpo headed wide.

Another penalty shout fell on deaf ears as James went down in the box, again the referee getting it right as it was a good tackle, but match official Josh Smith did point to the spot four minutes from time after Summerville went round Regan Slater only to be sent sprawling.

This time it was definitely a penalty and Summerville stepped up to put it away for his 18th goal of the season – after winning his argument over who was taking the spot kick with Joel Piroe expecting to be the choice.

Hull threw everybody forward in a bid to snatch a point and deep into added time they sent keeper Allsop up for a corner. The ball did not come his way and with him out of his goal Piroe found James who from the touchline some 50 yards out sent a perfect lob into the ungaurded net to make it 3-1.

What a difference a week made for hero James, who saw his penalty saved as Wales lost their shoot-out to miss out on the Euro finals and the speedy winger was hugged after the final whistle by his manager and number one fan.

Leeds United 3

(Byram 10, Summerville 87, James 90+7)

Hull City 1

(Carvalho 34)

Monday, April 1, 2024

Betfred Championship

Attendance: 36,747

Leeds: Meslier; Byram (Shackleton 90+4), Rodon, Ampadu, Firpo; Gray, Kamara (Piroe 84); James, Rutter, Summerville (Anthony 90+4); Bamford (Joseph 72).

Hull: Allsop; Slater, Coyle (Christie 82), Jones, Giles (Jacob 58); Omur, Morton, Seri, Philogene; Tufan (Zaroury 73), Carvalho.

Referee: Josh Smith