Leeds struck three late goals at a bouncing Elland Road to beat Leicester 3-1 and throw the Sky Bet Championship title race wide open.
Leicester appeared to be tightening their grip on top spot after Wout Faes’ first-half header, but Leeds hit back in a roaring finish with goals from Connor Roberts, Archie Gray and Patrick Bamford.
Daniel Farke’s side equalled a club-record nine straight league wins – set in 1931 – extending their unbeaten start to the year and closing the gap on leaders Leicester to six points.
The Foxes, who had been 17 points ahead of Leeds at the start of 2024, had been good value for their slender lead, but were punished for some glaring misses as they slipped to back-to-back league defeats.
Leicester were first to threaten through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s low effort and went close again through a header from Patson Daka, whose fierce drive soon after forced Illan Meslier into a flying save.
Daka was involved again when Leicester took a 15th-minute lead, flicking on Dewsbury-Hall’s corner for the unmarked Faes to head home at the far post.
The Belgium defender’s third-ever goal for the Foxes was the first Leeds had conceded in six league matches and they set about making amends.
Joel Piroe headed wide, Willy Gnonto’s shot was blocked and Leicester centre-half Jannik Vestergaard brilliantly denied Crysencio Summerville a shooting chance in front of goal.
It was fast and furious as Leeds pinned Leicester back in search of an equaliser, but the visitors’ backline, bolted together by big Dane Vestergaard, held firm until half-time.
Georginio Rutter curled wide early in the second period and with Leeds committing men forward, Leicester were measured and incisive on the break.
The Foxes showed they were a step up from the opposition that Leeds had recently faced and it took another full-stretch save from Meslier to keep out Stephy Mavididi’s angled shot.
Vestergaard then headed Dewsbury-Hall’s corner against a post and Daka thought he had put his side 2-0 up, only for his follow-up effort to be ruled out for offside.
Mavididi raced on to Dewsbury-Hall’s slide-rule pass to shoot agonisingly wide before an increasingly frustrated home crowd was lifted by Summerville’s blocked shot.
Daka wasted a golden chance to double the Foxes’ lead in the 73rd minute when dragging his effort off-target after another rapier counter-attack.
Leeds were struggling to gain momentum as the game entered the final 15 minutes, repeatedly repelled by Leicester’s two walls of blue.
But the Whites turned the game on its head with two goals in three minutes.
Roberts, a 73rd-minute replacement for Junior Firpo, lashed home a rebound into the bottom corner after Rutter had been tackled inside the penalty area to equalise in the 80th minute.
And with Leeds fans still celebrating, Gray took possession on the edge of the box and fired home a left-footed effort, which wrong-footed goalkeeper Mads Hermansen after deflecting off Faes and nestling into the bottom corner.
Substitute Patrick Bamford wrapped up the points for Leeds, deflecting in Daniel James’ sweetly-struck free-kick in stoppage time to leave Leicester shell-shocked.
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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