Leeds United 3-0 Luton Town: FLW report as Daniel Farke's side go top of the Championship

Football League World

·27. November 2024

Leeds United 3-0 Luton Town: FLW report as Daniel Farke's side go top of the Championship

Report, reaction, ratings and more from Elland Road as Leeds United host Luton Town.

An impressive Leeds United moved back to the top of the Championship table thanks to a 3-0 victory over Luton Town at Elland Road.

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Leeds reacted well to Sheffield United and Burnley's Tuesday night wins, moving back above that pair and Sunderland to the summit of the Championship, with goals from Sam Byram, Joel Piroe and Dan James securing a resounding win.

For Luton, though, their away woe continues. A fifth straight loss on the road since the 1-0 win against Millwall on September 14th.

Leeds United 3-0 Luton Town

Byram, Piroe, James on the scoresheet for the Whites

It took just 10 minutes before Leeds took the lead in front of an expectant Elland Road, with Sam Byram rewarded for a positive start at left-back.

The full-back's initial shot on goal was blocked, but the Leeds academy graduate produced a superb scissor-kick to volley beyond Thomas Kaminski.

Daniel Farke's side had other opportunities on the back of opening the scoring, mainly through Brenden Aaronson and Willy Gnonto, but it was Luton who went the closest on two occasions.

Victor Moses' off-ball running was too much for Jayden Bogle, before he beat Illan Meslier with a deft chip. However, Pascal Struijk was equal to it, hooking the ball away from under the crossbar.

Reece Burke then made a mess of a back-post header from a Carlton Morris cross, failing to hit the target at a crucial point.

Rob Edwards' men were made to pay, too, when Joel Piroe reacted quickest to Kaminski parrying Struijk's header from a corner. The Dutchman piled a shot beyond bodies on the line.

Leeds pushed for more heading towards the hour, dominating the ball, as they did for 90 minutes. Teden Mengi blocked a Piroe shot on the line after good work from Aaronson on the right.

Edwards rolled the dice with five changes before the 76th minute, with Elijah Adebayo going closest to pulling a goal back, heading Jordan Clark's corner over the crossbar.

The game was settled by a man from Leeds' bench, though, as Dan James raced onto Bogle's ball over the top, with the Welsh winger lifting a classy lob over Kaminski.

Kaminski denied fellow substitute, Mateo Joseph, getting down well to a header, before Meslier kept out a Shandon Baptiste effort low to his right to preserve a clean sheet on a perfect night for the table-topping Whites.

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Championship table

Leeds move top, Luton nine points adrift of top six

Daniel Farke praises Sam Byram

The Leeds full-back has impressed in Junior Firpo's absence

Byram impressed once more at left-back for Leeds, adding a goal to the assist he notched in Sunday's win over Swansea City.

Farke was full of praise for him in his post-match press conference.

He's great. He's reliable. Whenever we need him, he's there. When he's not playing, he's never complaining and always there for the team. He's one of the cornerstones of our group, and we are all happy to have him.

However, Byram was withdrawn inside an hour tonight, with Farke noting a hamstring complaint. Junior Firpo will return from suspension against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, with tonight's goalscorer in a race against time to be fit for the trip to Ewood Park.

Farke continued: "He felt a little problem in his hamstring. Hopefully it's early enough that he gave the sign to be substituted. He slipped a little bit. We have to wait for a further assessment. It could be the turnaround is a little bit too quick. I hope it's not too serious because he was excellent today. Hopefully, Sam is ready to go again on Saturday."

The Hatters have lost five on the spin on their travels

Luton have picked up seven points from the last nine available at Kenilworth Road, including back-to-back wins. However, it's away from home where Edwards' side are struggling, losing five on the bounce.

In that time, they've scored only four times and conceded 16 times. There were more individual and collective mistakes tonight, with Leeds far sharper than Luton in the Hatters' box.

Edwards referenced the passiveness of his side in his post-match press conference.

We don't see it so much at home. We see it away from home, and when it matters. We aren't seeing it on the training pitch. We don't see it in analysis meetings and when we are talking. One-to-one meetings, unit meetings, we don't see it then. We see it when it matters, especially away from home. We don't see it at home. It's a conundrum we've got to try and solve.