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Jamie Jackson's match report from Old Trafford
Daniel Farke speaks to Sky Sports:
I feel tired, relieved, proud of the boys. We stuck to our plan. We missed so many chances. The red card changed something and we fell asleep at a set piece but the first league win here in over 40 years is amazing. We have to stay humble. We are not the finished product. Overall, really good. A win is always good for the confidence but nothing is achieved yet. We have to stay hungry.
It’s worth remembering that Leeds United also have a FA Cup semi-final (against Chelsea) to look forward to. It could be a very special end to the season for them.
Here’s what the result does to the league table.
Leeds United’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin speaks:
It’s a massive result for us. We came here to win and we executed the game plan. I felt my hair get pulled and told the ref, and he made the decision. I don’t know if he meant it or not. I hold no grudges.
This result gives us a lot of confidence. We don’t listen to the external noise, we’re just focused on the next game and staying in the Premier League.
His two-goal teammate Noah Okafor:
I think I can help the team. I’m really happy and proud. We deserved three points. In the end we knew we had to defend as a team and we did it well. We take this victory and we look forward to the next game.
This was Michael Carrick’s worst night as Manchester United manager. All the blame will not be pointed at him – given the stupidity of Martínez’s red card – but Manchester United’s first-half performance in particular should not be overlooked. And ultimately it was that half that lost the Reds the game.
This was Leeds United’s first league win at Old Trafford since 1981, a whopping 45 years ago! The Leeds squad and staff rise to applaud the away fans at full-time, everyone is taking it in. An absolutely mammoth result.
I said before the game that Leeds United’s line-up was an attacking one and you have to give Daniel Farke a huge amount of credit for the way that they set up. The visitors were utterly dominant first half, and should have really put the game to bed in the second half, especially with the red card for Martínez. But Casemiro’s goal made things very nervy and Leeds United ended up needing a goalline clearance and a couple of big saves from Darlow!
Full-time: Manchester United 1-2 Leeds United
What a gargantuan win for the Yorkshire side! A precious victory at their rivals to send Leeds United six points clear of the relegation zone!
90+6 min: Manchester United having plenty of the ball but they can’t seem to work an angle to deliver a cross into the box. Eventually one comes, but Casemiro is offside.
90+4 min: “If Leeds survive, and they should, it feels like they’re just two or three signings away from contending for Europe,” writes Kári Tulinius. “They have a clear identity, but they fade as the match goes on, because their subs aren’t as good as their starters. If they could last the distance, they’d be a serious force.”
I think Europe is a bit of a stretch with this squad, or even with two or three signings. But there’s no doubting that Leeds are a huge club, and could again challenge the top half if they have a couple of excellent transfer windows.
90+2 min: Manchester United are pushing! A corner is again aimed towards Casemiro, but a white shirt is first to the cross. Dalot then tries his luck from 25 yards … high and wide! Tick, tock.
90 min: Seven minutes added on! Plenty of time for Manchester United to find an equaliser!
88 min: Defensive change from Leeds United: Longstaff for the more enterprising Aaronson.
86 min: Yellow card for Ampadu for diving, as Cunha pulls out of a challenge with the Welshman. It was a heart-in-mouth moment for the Manchester United man, who was booked himself in the first half for simulation. Manchester United would surely have been down to nine man if Cunha had make contact with Ampadu.
Leeds clear off their own line! Twice!
85 min: Mbeumo whips a delicious cross the back post … Sesko glances it towards the corner … Darlow tips the ball wide! From the resulting corner, Fernandes curls one to the back post where Casemiro is again (!) waiting, but Calvert-Lewin heads the Brazilian’s effort off the line. The Leeds United striker is the hero for the visitors, clearing from right under the crossbar. Pinball in the Leeds United box ensues, but the Yorkshire side eventually clear. Desperate, desperate times!
84 min: Manchester United are slowly turning up the heat. No golden chances to speak of, but Leeds United are becoming more and more frantic in possession. Fernandes is beginning to control things.
82 min: Some housekeeping as I missed this earlier in the maelstrom. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes is on a yellow card (dissent) and so is Leeds United’s James Justin. The other players on bookings are Luke Shaw and Cunha.
80 min: Signs of life from Manchester United. Both Mbeumo and Cunha have shots on goal, but they are blocked.
Huge chance for Calvert-Lewin!
78 min: Manchester United are all at sea. They can’t stop the cross from Bogle, and they leave Calvert-Lewin free in the six-yard box … but the Leeds United striker heads straight at Lammens! There was not much pace on the cross, but Calvert-Lewin surely had to find the corner there. Lammens was only able to claw it back from the goalline because the header was relatively central.
76 min: Leeds have steadied themselves on the pitch, assuming possession and using their man advantage, but one imagines nerves will be sky high amongst the fans. Imagine throwing this one away, 2-0 up at your rivals to go six points clear of the drop zone. For now, though, Leeds remain in the box seat.
74 min: Leeds United respond with two changes of their own. Gnonto on for the goalscorer Okafor. Gruev on for Tanaka.
72 min: That was so poor from Leeds United, who were punished by their first mistakes of the night. Not only did they gift too much space for Fernandes, but they left Manchester United’s best header of the ball, Casemiro, completely unmarked at the back stick. Now we have a game on our hands.
70 min: Twenty minutes left. Carrick, surely he will throw the kitchen sink at it?! Here come the cavalry, but there are no wholesale changes. Diallo off, Mbeumo on. Mazraoui off, Dalot on. Two like-for-like changes.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-2 Leeds United (Casemiro 69)
Forget all that! Manchester United are back in it! Leeds United fail to clear a corner, Fernandes picks the ball up in space and whips a wonderful ball to the back post. Casemiro, unmarked, nods it powerfully past Darlow to ignite the Stretford End!
67 min: Is there anything left in this game for Manchester United? Cunha’s chance suggests yes. Carrick could gamble and take off the hand brake, bring on Lacey, Mbeumo, Mount, Zirkzee. See what happens. What could happen, of course, is that Manchester United lose the plot and Leeds score four more. Which probably wouldn’t count in Carrick’s favour come the end of the season. A 2-0 defeat is … whisper it … manageable … especially given the red card.
66 min: A chance for Manchester United out of nothing! A hopeful ball forward somehow finds Cunha, wedged in between three Leeds defenders, but the Brazilian wriggles free and nearly beats Darlow at his near post! The Leeds United keeper tips it wide. Old Trafford awakens.
65 min: Okafor will get the headlines but his partner on the left, Gudmundsson, is quietly having an excellent game. The Swede cuts inside Mazraoui on the half-way line and drives unopposed into Manchester United’s penalty area, before shooting wide. The home side are depleted and stretched.
63 min: Leeds United can now control possession and run down the clock. They do exactly that, and the Leeds United fans start the ‘olés’ from the away end, celebrating every pass.
61 min: “Daft sending off and richly deserved,” writes Christopher Faherty. “Martínez isn’t a kid, he’s acted like such a plank there.”
59 min: One suspects that that might be the game. A penny for Michael Carrick’s thoughts. Will he even bother to make any attacking substitutions now? Maybe he will simply revert to damage control.
RED CARD! Manchester United's Martínez is dismissed!
57 min: Martínez looks completely perplexed by the decision but it’s the right call, and the Argentinian only looks like a wally as he protests his innocence. It was a clear and obvious pull of Calvert-Lewin’s hair. A ridiculous piece of decision making from one of the senior players in this Manchester United side.
VAR check for a red card!
55 min: Martínez looks as though he has pulled the hair of Calvert-Lewin in an off-the-ball incident. The Argentinian has been completely dominated by the Leeds United striker all game and has lashed out after another lost header. The replays are clear, he pulled the ponytail, and Paul Tierney is going across the the monitor!
53 min: The atmosphere is very flat inside Old Trafford. How long will Carrick take to make these changes? The only voices that can be heard are the Leeds United fans in the away end, with a rendition of ‘Marching On Together’.
51 min: “Yes Manchester United have been pretty poor at the back (and in midfield, and in attack),” emails David Bowen. “However I’m start to really get riled up but the creeping trend of fans booing when things aren’t going their way. Man United have been in excellent form, one bad half does not constitute the team getting booed off [at half-time].”
49 min: From the resulting (and terrible) Manchester United corner, the visitors break. Aaronson gets free down the right wing, plays it inside to Bogle. Suddenly, Leeds United have two men over on the left, but Bogle can’t quite get the pass away with Shaw cynically hauling him to the ground. An easy yellow, and a good one for Shaw to take. That was incredibly close to a third goal for Leeds United.
48 min: Sesko wriggles clear of two Leeds United defenders but Darlow comes off his line brilliantly in front of the Stretford End to smother the Manchester United striker’s shot. The ball bounces off the keeper, loops in the air towards goal … but is cleared off the line by Justin!
47 min: Penalty shout for Leeds United! Calvert-Lewin goes down in the box but the referee waves play on.
Peeeeeeeep!
We’re underway at Old Trafford.
Remarkably, no changes from either side!
“The last time Leeds won at Old Trafford was, I believe, in 1981,” emails Malcolm Shuttleworth. “My nephew, a Leeds fan was over from Australia at the time and gave us hell. Now it looks like they are going to win again and guess who is back in town?”
Half-time reading:
Tottenham fans thought it couldn’t get any worse from yesterday’s defeat at Sunderland. Now Leeds look like they are pulling six points clear of Spurs and Romero is out of the season:
Have a look at the xG from that first half.
0.19 for Manchester United
2.03 for Leeds United.
That is the biggest xG that Manchester United have conceded at home in the Premier League since their 4-0 first-half deficit against Liverpool in 2021.
Half-time: Manchester United 0-2 Leeds United
The home side have it all to do. This would be a monumental result at the bottom of the table.
45+2 min: “Ugarte with one of the worst halves of football I’ve ever seen,” emails Joshua Keeling. “I’m genuinely better on the ball than him.”
I wonder what Newcastle United’s scouts are thinking, watching this.
45 min: Two minutes added.
Martínez makes a goal-saving tackle off the line!
44 min: Leeds so close to making it three. It all comes from a hospital pass from Lammens, who gives Yoro a terrible pass. Yoro, under pressure, toe pokes the ball straight to Tanaka, who races through on goal. Sidestepping Lammens, he only has to tap the ball into Manchester United’s empty net … but it’s a heavy touch … and Martínez comes out of nowhere to slide tackle the ball behind! Heroic defending! A huge roar goes up around Old Trafford! Will that be the catalyst for a comeback. Hmmm.
42 min: “What’s the opposite to commentators’ curse?” emails Philip Cornwall. “As a professional broadcaster, Gary Neville will surely take great pride in saying: ‘If you are Leeds United, you’ve got to try to capitalise on this right now and get two in front,’ finishing at 28min 34sec, with the ball hitting the net at 28min 37sec.”
