Leeds United v Sunderland

Monday 17th February 2025 - Elland Road, Leeds

2024/25 Season

The roof came off Elland Road with a last-minute winner from Struijk. As Elland Road erupted the noise was unbelievable and even now, three hours after the end of the game my ears are still ringing. This was one of those moments you would want to be there to experience and there is no doubt in my mind that this was a vital win. Enjoy seeing Leeds back at the top of the league in these challenging times because, it was by no means an easy win.

Earlier it had felt surreal that we were heading to a football game. Having a day with family first, then saying goodbye to a friend, picking my granddaughter and then my daughter up meant we went straight into the ground. Luckily our turnstile was working this week, but I’ve heard of many of our fans having issues with the turnstiles. It is worth nothing the number of any that do not work, in my instance I went straight through it recently, so I wasn’t sure if it had registered my ticket. All notifications can be sent to the club via the SAB (Supporters’ Advisory Board).

Team:  Meslier, Ampadu, Rodon, Bogle, Firpo, James, Solomon, Aaronson, Gruev, Piroe, Tanaka.

Subs:  Rothwell for Gruev (71), Struijk for Tanaka (71), Joseph for Aaronson (78), Ramazani for Solomon (78), Byram for Firpo (90+2).

Subs not used:  Darlow, Guilavogui, Gnonto, Schmidt.

Leeds won the game 2-1 with a brace from Struijk (78, 90+5) after coming on as substitute.

Attendance:   36,804, 2,898 Sunderland fans.

Referee:  Stuart Attwell.

Booked: Bogle, Tanaka, Firpo.

Sunderland showed they wouldn’t be a pushover when they kept the ball in play in front of the West Stand. With Gruev slipping in the penalty area as the shot came in, Meslier made the initial save, then got to the rebound to save that shot too. That was a warning, but they won a free kick on the right-hand side. Before we knew it, the ball was sent quickly to the left wing then another quick pass to their player on the wing. He cut inside, got the better of Ampadu to hit a low shot against the post that bounced across the goal and into the net to take the lead. Although Leeds kept trying, a header from James was blocked on the line, but in reality, there was no chance it was going in as they had three players there. I felt it wasn’t really working for us and could tell we weren’t going to get a goal as we went into the break still losing by the one goal. 

Solomon saw his shot across goal from the by line saved by their keeper. Piroe had a shot saved too before our first subs were made. Firpo was out of position a few times today and it looked like he was playing up front at one point. It did look intentional, but I wasn’t sure how effective it had been. Firpo was fouled in front of the West Stand as Rothwell stepped up to take the free kick. A fantastic pinpoint cross reached Struijk who headed the ball into the net to equalise. The celebrations carried on all the way to our half as the team wanted to get on with the game. Leeds stepped up the pace now as all the time wasting from Sunderland was punished, I’m pleased to say. It’s a shame it took until the 83rd minute for their keeper to be booked for it. It was a game littered with fouls from both teams resulting in nine altogether, although some of those given to Sunderland were very soft challenges.

With five minutes of injury time on the clock, Leeds kept coming forward and won a corner. Rothwell took the corner, and the ball came to Ramazani at the far side of the box. His shot/pass came back to Rothwell again only this time his shot was headed into the net by Struijk again to put Leeds into the lead. The scenes then from all around the ground were absolutely fantastic with everyone going nuts, jumping about and celebrating until the final whistle went a few minutes later. Everyone stayed where they were for a long time afterwards as I predict a riot and Marching on Together belted out around the ground. Happy? You bet I am as I was jumping for joy too. Just before Struijk scored his second, I’d told him to get a brace, the lad next to me said he’d get a winner and there had been other predictions of Rothwell being the provider and Struijk scoring.

As we head to Bramall Lane for the key game against Sheffield United next Monday, let’s hope we can get something out of the game there too.

 See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together!