Leeds United 4-0 Oxford United: YEP reaction from Lee Sobot at Elland Road
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00:00Well, well, well, hello there. Lee Sobot at the Yorkshire Evening Post here from Ellen
00:06Road where Leeds United have given their fans the perfect early Christmas present with a
00:114-0 victory against Oxford United. You wanted two things here really. You wanted obviously
00:15the three points. Leeds were massive, massive odds on favourites but you've still got to
00:19go out and get the job done. The second thing you wanted were goals and finally the floodgates
00:23started to open. Only four in the end, I say only four because there could have been a
00:28lot more really. I don't think it's any disrespect to Oxford to say it could have been five,
00:32six or seven. Lots of other chances. Keeper had a good game for them. Ramazani missed
00:37two good chances at the end. There were other pretty decent chances. I think the shots count
00:42was getting up towards 25, something like that for Leeds. I think it was nine on target
00:45and they should have had a few more but come on, we can't keep complaining about them when
00:50they're winning and at the end of the day they're winning nine in a row here at Ellen
00:52Road which is some record and that should be the foundation of promotion really. You
00:57would think this home form will probably continue. You can't expect them to win every
01:02single home game, although they are at the minute, but there will probably be bumps in
01:05the road. I'd expect this home form to continue here. They're just fantastic at Ellen Road
01:10and basically it's all going to come down, as we all know, to what they're like away
01:13from home, which lately hasn't been great. Not the worst in the division away from home,
01:17far from it. Eighth best I think it is in the division but probably need to be a little
01:21bit better than that. Saying that, they are still second so if the season ended now it's
01:26happy days because that would be automatic promotion. What you would say with this is
01:30that it felt like this before the game. This was a crucial win really. It's a bit early
01:35to be talking about must-win games but you look to the fixtures today and the Championship
01:39is unpredictable but I certainly felt coming in today that there was a good chance that
01:43everybody else in the top four would win and that's exactly how it proved. Sheffield United
01:47getting their business done at Cardiff City crucially, Burnley beating Watford and Sunderland
01:51getting a victory as well. Everybody else won in the top four so it's basically as you
01:57were. Obviously you could say that's the one downside of today but they haven't kicked
02:04on or closed on Sheffield United or whatever but you can't do anything about the other
02:07results at the moment. What you would say is that something will definitely change on
02:13Boxing Day because Boxing Day is Sheffield United against Burnley so that's an absolutely
02:17huge game on Boxing Day when obviously Leeds also go to Stoke which is a massive game in
02:21its own right. The thing there is obviously someone is going to slip up out of Blades
02:26and Burnley so Leeds are going to basically need to cash in on that and get three points
02:31at Stoke and that's going to be the acid test really now if you like whether they can get
02:35back to winning ways on their travels. Today it didn't take long, I think it was nine minutes
02:40on the clock when Dan James fired Leeds ahead. He is looking like Leeds' best player at the
02:43moment. He's looking so, so pacey, lively, just a real live wire. I mean some of his
02:48crosses weren't amazing but a lot of them were very, very good indeed. Burst into the
02:53box to net from close range after Solomon got the way down the left. He was very, very
02:57good as well with Solomon, definitely one of Leeds' better players. He got in on the
03:01act as well with a goal in the second half. As did Brendan Aronson, those two both netting
03:06after Jadon Bogle who's always looked a threat going forward. As you can see this season
03:11already getting in with the goal contributions. He made it 2-0 and then as I say the other
03:15two, Aronson and Solomon, making it four. There were other chances, I mean Ramazani's
03:21two are the two that stick out really. Oxford had the odd little threat. It's got to be
03:25said that Leeds scored from an Oxford chance really when they sort of counted and broke
03:30down the other end though and within seconds of that chance Leeds went up the other end
03:34and scored. Another very, very good chance was when they were through one-on-one and
03:37put that over the bar. There was also a header towards the end of the first half that had
03:41Mellier scrambling back a bit. That caused a bit of panic but went over the bar and a
03:45free header right at the start of the second half when it was still 1-0. The little margins
03:49like that were obviously, had any of those chances gone in it obviously could have been
03:53a slightly different game but let's be honest, Leeds were so, so dominant here as they should
03:59be realistically and that's no disrespect to Oxford who've obviously just come up from
04:03League One as play-off winners. Good luck to them this season. Obviously they've got
04:07a very good new manager coming in in Gary Rowert who was here today but hadn't actually
04:10taken over as yet. Obviously for them it will be sticking in the division and hopefully
04:15for them they can do that. They had the odd little threat like I say but Leeds were just
04:20way too good and they basically just looked to level above which they should be because
04:24realistically this season won't be a success if Leeds don't end it as a Premier League
04:29side whereas Oxford are obviously fighting to stay up. The substitution said it all when
04:33Leeds made a triple change, brought on Nonto and Joseph and Ramazani. God knows what Oxford
04:40must have thought looking at those three coming on. It just goes to show the strength in depth.
04:44Other takeaways, Ethan Ampadu came back today, started. Obviously Pascal Stroik was a doubt
04:48for the contest. He hadn't trained during the week with a hamstring issue but Ampadu
04:52coming back is a massive, massive boost. Slotted in very seamlessly at centre-back next to
04:56Rodan. Doesn't sound like Stroik's too bad so that's obviously good news. Obviously minutes
05:00from Ramazani off the bench, he again looked lively. Obviously he needs to finish a bit
05:04better than he did today but we know that he can do that. And yeah, just a good day
05:08all round really. As I say, the only sort of slight sour note is the fact that everybody
05:11else won but you kind of expected that and like I say, you know 100% for Defner that
05:16something will definitely, definitely change on Boxing Day with those two. Sheffield United
05:20and Burnley playing each other and then Sheffield got West Brom as well. I think it's a couple
05:24of days later so that's difficult as well. So this obviously, as it is every year, is
05:28a crucial, crucial period. Last Christmas was a complete shambles for Leeds away from
05:33home. Obviously I remember going to the game over at Deepdale and that one brings back
05:38bad memories. Obviously what happened there with Mellier getting sent off and falling
05:41to defeat. Then obviously had the defeat, I think it was West Brom a couple of days
05:44later. So, you know, the completely pointless away return last season. I spoke to Ampadu
05:49this week and sort of asked him about this year's Christmas games and he basically said,
05:54you know, we're going to try and do the exact opposite of last year, which is obviously
05:57what they need to do. And that's what they need to do, you know, go and get six points
06:01from these two away games now. You know, no messing about, go to Stoke and win, go to
06:05Derby and win. It won't be easy. We know they've had the struggles-ish away from home, but
06:08in all these away games, they have created lots of chances still. Watching that Preston
06:12game back, actually the highlights, you know, amazing how many chances they had really.
06:16I mean, they should have won it obviously, but didn't. Referee indecision didn't help
06:19them. But referee had a good game here today, but like it was just complete dominance really
06:23from Leeds here. Four nil, but I don't know, five or six could quite easily have been the
06:27scoreline, like I say. And good finally, you know, to Leeds get some goals and also extend
06:32the goal difference because when it's so tight at the top, you know, it's not inconceivable
06:36that it might come down to goal difference, hopefully not. But, you know, that's obviously
06:39a massive boost. People obviously will say in this year, the championship isn't as strong
06:44as last year, obviously with no Leicester, no Ipswich, Southampton to a degree. Not being
06:50here, but mainly, you know, Ipswich and Leicester with the massive points totals they got last
06:53season. And I think that's probably about right. But what I would say is that I wouldn't
06:57be surprised if the points totals weren't far off that again, purely because the championship
07:03this season looks a bit wonky and a bit lopsided in the sense that you've got four teams who
07:08look like they might pull away in Leeds, Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland. Blackburn is
07:14sticking around a little bit as well. Obviously we know what Borough can do, West Brom to
07:18a degree, but Watford maybe a bit. But I mean, other than that, there does seem like a big
07:22gulf between the teams at the top and the teams mid-table towards the bottom. And to
07:27that extent, that's probably why it's not a surprise that teams are constantly churning
07:31out results. And that's why you looked at the fixtures today and thought you could probably
07:35see everybody else in that top four, five winning, which is top four, which is exactly
07:40what happened. So I think that's probably right to say that it's maybe not quite as
07:44high a standard in the championship this year. But I asked Ampadu about that one too. And
07:49he basically said, you know, don't want to disrespect anybody. And that's not really
07:52the case. And I kind of agree with him because I think it might be a bit, you know, a bit
07:56silly to sort of think it's an easier championship this season because I don't see Sheffield
07:59United particularly dropping off anytime soon. You don't see what Burnley can do with a good
08:03defensive record. So, you know, Leeds are going to have to be, you know, not perfect,
08:07but not far off it. I mean, the fact of the matter is, though, they are ending or going
08:12into Christmas in the top two. Yeah, we'd all like to win the title this season, obviously.
08:16But look, I mean, automatic promotion is all that matters basically. And as I say, if the
08:20season stopped now, then it's happy days. So, you know, the bottom line is it's nine
08:24wins in a row here. That's fantastic form. Keep that up, obviously, which I think they'll
08:27probably do. Back in action here on New Year's Day against Blackburn, that'll be a hard game.
08:32But now, obviously, the million dollar question, can they improve away from home? And if they
08:36do, then they'll go up. It's as simple as that. And now it all comes down to Stoke away.
08:41And that is going to be an absolutely massive, massive game at Stoke Boxing Day. 8pm kickoff,
08:48which is a rather fun kickoff time for us all. I think we've got our heads around that
08:51one now. And destination Stoke, it is on Boxing Day. But anyway, a really, really good day
08:55here today. The wind was absolutely mad. There was stuff blowing all over the shop. There
09:00still is now. That's come on the pitch staff and picked stuff up at half time. Poor old
09:04Rothwell took about a minute to take a free kick because the ball wouldn't stay still.
09:08Getting in and out of Leeds is going to be fun, obviously, with the wind and whatnot.
09:12But yeah, everybody, I'm sure we'll have a nice drink tonight and celebrate this victory.
09:17That's what you want to see. Three points, four goals. Happy Christmas. Everybody have
09:22a really good time and we will catch up with you after Stoke City, where hopefully Leeds
09:26United will win away from home. That's all for now. Happy Christmas.