Leeds restore six-point lead at top of Championship with rout of Stoke

Leeds United 5 Stoke City 0

You have to admire Leeds United, not only because they are fun to watch, but because they might be the only club in the country who could have come up with a way to make home games intimidating for the opposition during lockdown.

Leeds deserve promotion to the Premier League for the class of football, the quality of their players, the magnificence of their manager, Marcelo Bielsa, and the passion and size of their fanbase.

We have waited 16 years for their return and, after this rout of Stoke City restored their six-point lead at the top of the Championship, with four games left to play, it is surely a case of when not if.

But where Leeds go, intrigue and drama follow as sure as isolation after a positive Covid-19 test and you can be sure Yorkshire’s favourite club will find ways to antagonise, irritate and upset in the Premier League too. This is the Leeds way and if you do not like it, they will not care one bit.

One of the eerie features of lockdown football has been, not the silence, but the quiet. Yet, even with no supporters allowed inside the stadium, Leeds made plenty of noise.

Whether it was the smartly dressed men and women spread out in the director’s box, the substitutes behind the dugout, the coaching staff on the bench or the stewards on duty to ensure face masks were worn, every decision was contested, every heavy challenge by a Stoke player protested against, every encouraging attacking move applauded. Leeds turned this into a home game by any means necessary.

All perfectly above board – you are allowed 350 people inside the stadium on a matchday - but this was not quite like any other game under lockdown. Even when they do not have their supporters with them, Leeds intend to march on together, even if the noise comes from 30 people rather than 30,000.

They got what they came for, a commanding display that made a mockery of the fact these teams still share the same division. Stoke were out-played, out-classed and barely played in the Leeds half. They could definitely drop into League One playing like this.

Bielsa’s side put their foot on their throats and pushed down. Denied the lead when Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts both had shots cleared off the line in the space of a few seconds, by James McClean and Danny Batth, they took it just before half time through Mateusz Klich’s penalty. A stupid tackle from Tommy Smith bringing down Helder Costa as he moved away from goal.

If there was any anxiety that removed it and they moved through the gears after the break, Costa scoring his first goal since his loan move from Wolves turned into a £16m permanent move – it is deals like this which suggest Leeds simply must go up from a financial perspective – with a clever check and poke finish after a sensational through ball from Stuart Dallas.

The third came from the skipper, Liam Cooper, the centre back who has kept everyone calm and focused behind the scenes when so many other Leeds teams have buckled under pressure. It was a good finish too, pulling into space before squeezing a first-time shot in via the inside of the post from Pablo Hernandez’s pull back. The Spaniard scored the fourth himself, a cool finish from the edge of the area.

Stoke's players looked like they wanted it all to end long before Bamford scored Leeds' fifth in stoppage time.