Leeds boss Daniel Farke warned his players they won only three points after their resounding 4-0 victory against automatic promotion rivals Ipswich.
Skipper Pascal Struijk’s early header, Leif Davis’s own goal against his former club and Crysencio Summerville’s penalty put Leeds 3-0 up at half-time.
Farke’s side kept the hammer down after the break to the delight of a raucous Elland Road crowd as Joel Piroe added a fourth, while the Dutch forward and team-mate Georginio Rutter both saw shots hit the crossbar.
It was a statement win for Leeds as they closed the gap on second-placed Ipswich to seven points and extended their unbeaten home run this season to 12 matches.
Farke said: “To win three points is always priceless. That’s the most important thing. It was good also for our goal difference.
“And yes, if you win in such a manner against one of the best sides in this league, then it’s also good for the confidence and a big boost for the mood.
“But nothing major has changed. It’s not like right now we are sitting top of the table.
“Ipswich are still in a really good position and it’s important also that we protect our position because we can expect the teams around us to pick up many points and we have to keep going.”
Ipswich were bidding to extend their advantage over Leeds to 13 points, but were overrun and outclassed in just their third league defeat this season.
“When you deliver such a performance in such a spotlight game it also sends a bit of a message out, but it’s not more than three points,” Farke added.
“It’s not possible in a game of football to put in a perfect performance, but I will say it’s probably our most mature performance of the season.
“We played one of the top sides of this level and we were all over them. We fully deserved a 4-0 win.”
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna, who guided the club to promotion in May, suffered his first defeat by more than two goals in two seasons as their manager.
“Of course it was a disappointing game that didn’t got the way we wanted it to go,” he said.
“It certainly wasn’t an enjoyable experience, but over the course of a long season you’re going to have days that don’t go your way and today was one of them.
“We’ll learn from it and move on really, really quickly.”
Ipswich, who went close through Conor Chaplin’s shot, which skimmed a post, and Nathan Broadhead in the first-half, must regroup in time for the visit of leaders Leicester on Boxing Day, while Leeds play at Preston.
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion
Ipswich Town took a huge step to Premier League promotion after Cameron Burgess snatched a second-half winner in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Coventry City.
Kieran McKenna's side require just one point from their final Championship game against League One-bound Huddersfield Town to go up, after a decisive victory at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Kieffer Moore blasted in an eighth-minute opener for the visitors after Wes Burns' crafty cutback pass, easing the pressure on Ipswich and dampening the top-two hopes of third-placed Leeds United.
Haji Wright levelled in the second half, only for Burgess to squeeze a winning goal past Bradley Collins five minutes later, putting Ipswich on the brink of top-flight football for the first time since their relegation in 2002.
A draw against Huddersfield, who are 23rd and three points adrift of safety, would secure promotion at Portman Road, marking just the fourth instance of back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era.
Having managed to climb out of League One, McKenna's entertaining side would join Watford, rivals Norwich City and Southampton as the only sides to achieve the feat.
Data Debrief: Ipswich end winless run at perfect time
Prior to this game, only five teams had won fewer points in the Championship than Ipswich's six since the beginning of April (W1 D3 L1).
Yet McKenna's men refused to let their top-flight push derail as the Tractor Boys ended a four-game winless run to move within touching distance of history.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
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