Leeds United 0-1 Burnley: Luca Koleosho helps resilient Clarets land early blow on promotion rivals

Scott Parker’s men emerged victorious in front of a hostile Elland Road crowd thanks to Luca Koleosho’s solo run and finish.

Leeds otherwise dominated the ball, keeping over 70 per cent of possession, but the Clarets limited them to relatively few clear-cut chances.

The hosts were a little unfortunate not to be awarded a first-half penalty when Joe Worrall got the wrong side of Manor Solomon inside the box, but other than that - and two or three smart James Trafford stops from long-range – Burnley defended resolutely to earn an impressive clean sheet and a third win of the season.

Parker’s men ended the game with 10 men after Bashir Humphreys was shown a second yellow card, but by then it was too late to have an impact on the game.

Burnley were dealt some bad news before kick-off when it emerged neither Connor Roberts nor Lyle Foster were in the squad.

Roberts was an injury doubt having been forced off holding his arm during Wales’ 2-1 win over Montenegro in midweek.

Foster, meanwhile, played in both of South Africa’s AFCON qualifiers.

Bashir Humphreys took Roberts’ spot at right-back, while Zian Flemming came in to make his Burnley debut in place of Foster in attack.

Fellow new signing John Egan, who arrived on a free transfer during the week, was named on the bench.

Josh Cullen, who like Roberts was also a fitness doubt having missed the game against Blackburn Rovers before the break, returned on the bench.

Enock Agyei was also a surprise inclusion among the substitutes having recovered from a long-term absence.

Shurandy Sambo missed out once again despite being added to Burnley’s squad list, while Jordan Beyer, Hjalmar Ekdal, Hannes Delcroix, Aaron Ramsey, Manuel Benson, Nathan Redmond and Mike Tresor all remain absent.

Leeds, meanwhile, remained unchanged from their 2-0 win against Hull City before the break. Patrick Bamford, who was an injury doubt, didn’t feature.

Bamford’s fellow striker Mateo Joseph ought to have given Leeds the lead inside the first 50 seconds, only to be guilty of an inexplicable miss.

It came after the Leeds man had caught Maxime Esteve dawdling on the ball on the halfway line, allowing Joseph to spring through one-on-one with James Trafford. Despite having all the time in the world, Joseph failed to even hit the target.

Burnley won a turnover of their own two minutes later which led to their first opening, which was headed wide by Hannibal from Zian Flemming’s pinpoint cross.

The game momentarily stopped in the sixth minute when everyone, fans, players, staff and officials alike, began applauding for the young Leeds fan, who has only been named as Bob, who tragically passed away from cancer.

Once the game resumed, the hosts threatened the Burnley goal again as Ilia Gruev let fly with a dangerous swerving effort, which Trafford did well to claim.

Zian Flemming, for a brief moment, looked as though he was about to surge through on the Leeds goal after running onto Josh Laurent’s through-ball. But Joe Rodon, via a slight shirt pull, managed to muscle his way back to cut off the angle. Flemming still managed to get a shot off at goal but it was straight at Illian Meslier.

It wasn’t to matter, because just two minutes later Burnley took the lead with a superb solo effort from Luca Koleosho.

It came after Manor Solomon had slipped after the Clarets had cleared a Leeds corner, giving Koleosho the opportunity to sprint clear into 70 yards of free space.

Koleosho still had plenty to do, but with Leeds’ backline moving across the pitch to cut off Jaidon Anthony, the winger showed the composure to pick his spot and arrow a low effort across Meslier and into the bottom corner, much to the delight of the travelling Clarets fans.

Leeds came closest to hitting back just five minutes later when Wilfried Gnonto’s clever run was picked out, but Trafford stayed tall to make a crucial save with his body.

While the Clarets remained a threat with their pace on the counter, Leeds were being given a bit too much time on the ball and were working the ball well in between the lines.

The visitors shot Leeds a quick warning sign though with two good chances in quick succession. First Jaidon Anthony, on his return to Elland Road, had a shot blocked behind for a corner following a clever break involving a number of players. The unmarked Joe Worrall then headed wide from the resulting corner.

Burnley were incredibly fortunate to not concede a penalty before the interval when Joe Worrall brought down Manor Solomon while on the wrong side. While he may have got a slight touch on the ball, Worrall appeared to go through the player first. But referee James Bell emphatically pointed for a corner, rather than to the penalty spot, much to the Leeds fans’ fury.

Hannibal, who was booked for arguing with Solomon after the incident, then had to be spoken to by Parker during a break in play, as tempers threatened to boil over.

Thankfully things settled down a little at the start of the second-half, although the game was still being played at some pace.

The first chance of the half came Leeds’ way, but Trafford did well to fly across his goal and tip Joseph’s 25-yard effort away.

The second-half continued in the same vein as the first, with Leeds enjoying the vast majority of possession while Burnley looked for openings on the break.

Gnonto had the ball in the Burnley net when he rounded Trafford before slotting home, but the linesman’s flag had long been raised for offside.

Burnley almost got in behind on the counter on the hourmark as Josh Laurent looked to feed Koleosho, but the midfielder’s pass was just overhit by a yard or two.

Two minutes later, the visitors were indebted to Trafford once again when he made a fabulous reaction stop to tip over Ethan Ampadu’s curling effort from the edge of the box.

Soon after, Parker made his first change of the afternoon, replacing goalscorer Koleosho with Jeremy Sarmiento.

Josh Cullen then replaced the ever-entertaining Hannibal, who goaded the Leeds fans and fist-pumped the away end as he trudged around the perimeter of the pitch.

Following a lengthy stoppage following a nasty clash of heads involving Josh Brownhill and Joe Rodon, eight minutes of time were added on at the end of the 90.

Nothing really of note happened in terms of goalmouth action, but Burnley did end the game with 10 men after Bashir Humphreys was shown a second yellow card deep into stoppage time.

TEAMS

Leeds: Meslier, Bogle, Struijk, Rodon (Tanaka), Firpo (Byram), Ampadu (Rothwell), Aaronson (Piroe), Solomon (Ramazani), Joseph, Gruev, Gnonto

Subs not used: Darlow, Gelhardt, Schmidt, Debayo

Burnley: Trafford, Humphreys, Worrall, Esteve, Pires, Laurent, Brownhill (Massengo), Hannibal (Cullen), Koleosho (Sarmiento), Anthony, Flemming (Hountondji)

Subs not used: Hladky, Egan, Egan-Riley, Agyei, Rodriguez

Referee: James Bell

Attendance: 36,405