Leeds run riot in closing stages to see off Newcastle

Jack Harrison (left) celebrates scoring his side’s fifth goal. Picture: Rui Vieira/PA

Premier League: Leeds United 5 Newcastle 2

Leeds may continue to have issues defending set-pieces, but Newcastle had issues in simply defending. The combined ineptitude made for a wonderful spectacle, though Steve Bruce didn’t necessarily agree.

Two late goals for the hosts put a somewhat harsh slant on the final scoreline, though the irony of Leeds’ fifth, thrashed into the net from 20 yards by Jack Harrison at the culmination of a length-of-the-field move starting from a Newcastle corner, won’t be lost on Marcelo Bielsa, whose side glossed over their own defensive dead ball deficiencies with some utterly mesmeric football.

The visitors went ahead against the run of play midway through the first half through Jeff Hendrick, but goals either side of the interval from Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo turned the game on its head.

Bruce’s side looked good for a share of the spoils with the luck of the Irish when Ciaran Clark joined Jeff Hendrick on the scoresheet midway through the second half, as Leeds shipped a 12th goal this season from a set-piece when the defender headed home Ryan Fraser’s corner.

Stuart Dallas restored Leeds’ advantage with 13 minutes left, Sean Longstaff surrendering possession for Mateusz Klich to cross for the Northern Ireland international to head in, his would-be marker Miguel Almiron clearly thinking better of bothering to track back.

Ezgjan Alioski rounded-off an incisive cavalry charge of a goal to make it four with five minutes left, the unfortunate Longstaff again the last Newcastle player to touch the ball - albeit in the Leeds area - before in the blink of an eye Pablo Hernandez provided the final pass with two defenders hopelessly out-numbered by five attackers.

Leeds United's Patrick Bamford scores his side's first goal of the game. Picture: Stu Forster

Jack Harrison then found the top corner from 25 yards as Leeds leapfrogged opponents Newcastle in the Premier League.

“Some of the defending was embarrassing.” Clark conceded afterwards. “It was schoolboy stuff at times.”

Reflecting on only a second win in seven games, Bielsa said: “We deserve credit for keeping calm when Newcastle came back at us. We scored some eye-catching goals and it was a pleasing performance. Winning helps to breed confidence and we move on to the next match in good spirits.”

Manchester United, who host their cross-Pennines rivals on Sunday, have been duly warned. Bielsa added: “We’ve been in this division for a few months now, and we’re adapting all the time.”

Hendrick gave the visitors a 26th-minute lead in what this season passes for the Premier League’s North-East ‘derby’, albeit with the small matter of 105 miles separating Elland Road from St James’ Park.

Leeds made most of the early running, with Rodrigo sending a first-time shot over from a Kalvin Phillips-inspired move, before Klich narrowly failed to touch home a cross-shot from Raphinha as Bielsa’s men prospered down both flanks.

Liam Cooper saw a powerful header from a Phillips corner well saved by Karl Darlow and when soon after the deadlock was finally broken, it came as something of a surprise that it failed to come from the hosts.

It arrived, instead, at the culmination of a precise move involving three of Newcastle’s summer signings, Callum Wilson’s near post flick from Fraser’s cross allowing Hendrick to steal in at the back post to volley home. There appeared a hint of offside in the Republic of Ireland midfielder’s second goal of the season, but replays showed he had timed his run perfectly.

Parity was deservedly restored within 10 minutes. Patrick Bamford profited from a ball-watching Jacob Murphy to head the rebound into an unguarded net after Rodrigo’s looping header from a Dallas centre came back off the crossbar.

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce appears dejected after the final whistle during the Premier League match at Elland Road, Leeds.

A ninth goal of the season for the flourishing forward gave a fairer reflection of a first half in which Darlow had been by far the more employed of the two keepers.

Leeds took the lead just after the hour, when Rodrigo found the bottom corner with a stooping header from Harrison’s inviting cross, the winger having initially done well to keep the ball in play before providing a telling centre.

Clark’s first goal for 13 months gave Newcastle renewed hope, but they were blown away by an inability to deal with their opponents’ pace and accuracy of pass on the break, as Bruce’s side left gaps at the back in an ultimately doomed attempt to find a way back into this most entertaining of contests.

Newcastle might have had a penalty at 1-1 when Cooper looked to take Wilson’s standing leg in the area, and Bruce said: “The last 15 minutes were disappointing but up until then we had given as good as we got. We didn’t show enough resilience or defend well enough at the end. Some of the stuff you’d see down at the park on a Sunday, and when you do that at this level then you get punished.”

LEEDS (4-1-4-1): Meslier 7; Dallas 8, Ayling 5, Cooper 6, Alioski 7; Phillips 7; Raphinha 7, Rodrigo 8 (Hernandez 82, 7), Klich 7 (Shackleton 89, 6), Harrison 9; Bamford 8 (Roberts 84, 6).

NEWCASTLE (4-4-2): Darlow; Murphy, Fernandez, Clark, Lewis; Hendrick 6 (Krafth 61, ), Hayden, Longstaff, Fraser 7 (Almiron 75, ); Joelinton 6 (Gayle 74, ), Wilson.

Referee: Simon Hooper.