Crysencio Summerville at the double as Leeds ease past Rotherham

By Sports Desk February 10, 2024

Leeds maintained their Championship promotion charge with a comfortable 3-0 win in a Yorkshire derby against Rotherham.

Patrick Bamford put Leeds ahead in controversial circumstances at Elland Road with heavy suggestions of handball after a deflected cross appeared to brush his arm on its way in.

Crysencio Summerville added a second after the break for the dominant Whites and later scored his second from the penalty spot as the hosts made it six Championship wins in succession.

Leeds were aiming to maintain their unbeaten start to 2024 while Rotherham, the Championship’s basement club, were seeking their first win since Boxing Day.

Daniel Farke made six changes from the Leeds side that beat Plymouth in midweek FA Cup action and opposite number Leam Richardson named an unchanged team from that which tasted defeat to Southampton last weekend.

After early Rotherham pressure, Wilfried Gnonto got in behind the Millers but was unable to find Summerville ahead of goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.

Georginio Rutter’s promising cross then found Bamford but his weak effort was claimed by Johansson after five minutes.

Bamford was denied before 10 minutes was played by Hakeem Odoffin’s low tackle after Rutter’s good work as the hosts continued to apply pressure.

Leeds took the lead when Junior Firpo’s left-wing cross deflected off Rotherham skipper Sean Morrison and struck what appeared to be Bamford’s arm to put the Whites ahead.

Rutter’s shot from outside the box flew just over before Summerville wasted a glorious chance after Firpo robbed Odoffin and the winger blasted his 25th-minute effort over, with Rutter being denied by Johansson moments later.

Ethan Ampadu’s fantastic long pass put Bamford through one-on-one but he was unable to control it 10 minutes from half-time.

Archie Gray nearly capped off a sustained Leeds move but fired straight at Johansson before the stopper denied Gnonto’s fiercely-struck effort just before the break to keep the deficit at just one.

Illan Meslier was sharp to control Glen Kamara’s back pass and prevent an own goal early in the second half.

Leeds should have doubled their lead when Bamford struck the bar and Gnonto blasted a follow-up over from close range.

But Summerville gave Leeds a deserved second as he exchanged passes with Rutter and buried past an onrushing Johansson after 52 minutes.

Referee Andrew Madley pointed to the penalty spot when Peter Kioso brought down Summerville and the winger coolly converted on the hour mark.

Gnonto could have made it four but his low 78th-minute drive fizzed inches wide before a rare Millers foray forward saw Christ Tiehi blast over following a corner.

Johansson collected Rutter’s header as full-time approached before Meslier denied Odoffin’s header at the other end, with Rutter blasting inches wide in stoppage time.

Related items

  • Bruno Fernandes hints at Manchester United departure Bruno Fernandes hints at Manchester United departure

    Bruno Fernandes hinted he may leave Manchester United in the close season, but insisted he will not consider his future until after the European Championship.

    The United skipper has been one of the Red Devils' standout performers during a tricky campaign for Erik ten Hag's side, who are sixth in the Premier League and six points behind fifth-place Tottenham with three games remaining.

    Fernandes has chipped in with 26 direct goal involvements (15 goals, 11 assists) - the most by any United player - and became the first player to create over 100 chances in the Premier League this term during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Burnley.

    The club are reportedly prepared to sell most of their top players in the close season under the new Jim Ratcliffe regime, though the Portugal international is still under contract at Old Trafford until June 2026.

    With the European Championship and an FA Cup final against Manchester City on the horizon, the 29-year-old says that remains his top priority and he will focus on his future further down the line.

    "I'm not thinking about other things at the moment. Obviously, it doesn't just depend on me, does it?" he told DAZN Portugal.

    "A player always has to want to be here, but at the same time, you have to want him to stay. At the moment, I feel there's that on both sides.

    "I'm not thinking too much about the future, not least because this season hasn't been at the level I’d hoped for - either individually or collectively - so far.

    "If I have to think about not continuing in the Premier League, it won't be until after the Euros. Nothing will be able to take my focus away from the FA Cup final and the Euros, as there's nothing more important than that at the moment."

  • Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion 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 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.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.