Leeds United secured their Premier League safety on a dramatic final day with a 2-1 victory over Brentford. The Whites moved ahead of Burnley and into 17th following the Clarets’ defeat to Newcastle United at Turf Moor, which has consigned them to a place in the Championship.
Goals from Raphinha and Jack Harrison were enough to secure the three points for Leeds, after Sergi Canos had equalised for the home side. It has largely been a season of struggle at Elland Road, with several injuries to key players having played a major part.
But despite that, there have also been a number of memorable moments – none more so than the eight stoppage-time goals across the course of the season. So with that in mind, here is a look at five key points from the campaign that have helped secure Leeds’ survival.
Joe Gelhardt vs Norwich City
After six defeats in a row, and seven in their last eight matches, Leeds entered the game against Norwich City at Elland Road knowing only a win would do. The Whites dominated for much of the afternoon but failed to capitalise on their chances after Rodrigo Moreno’s first-half opener.
Leeds were then made to pay for their missed opportunities as Kenny McLean equalised for the Canaries in the first minute of added time. But the drama did not end there, as just two minutes after coming off the bench Joe Gelhardt steered home a cut-back from Raphinha to earn all three points and ensure a pivotal return to winning ways.
Raul Jimenez red card
Following on from the game against Norwich – where Leeds now had some momentum behind them – everything that could’ve gone wrong did at Molineux. In just his second start after returning from injury, Patrick Bamford was substituted after just 20 minutes – a problem which would rule him out for the remainder of the season.
Diego Llorente, Mateusz Klich and Illan Meslier were then all also brought off due to injury, though the latters injury ended up being the turning point. With Wolves 2-0 up and cruising, Meslier came out to meet a ball over the top, which he managed to get to ahead of Raul Jimenez.
Jimenez was given his second yellow of the evening for his involvement in the incident, which sparked a crazy comeback. Quickfire goals from Jack Harrison and Rodrigo brought it back to 2-2, before Luke Ayling won it in stoppage time to send the travelling support into chaos.
Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper return
In a disastrous sequence of events in the 2-2 draw with Brentford in December, both Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper limped off with hamstring injuries. As was typical of Leeds’ luck throughout the season, both would not go onto play again until April – with both making their returns against Southampton.
Phillips and Cooper are crucial for the Whites both in terms of their leadership, and ability to make Leeds a better team from a defensive point of view. Without the return of those two at the business end of the season, who knows whether Leeds would’ve secured safety.