Leeds trailed Norwich City 2-0 after a disappointing first half, but managed a stunning comeback after Daniel Farke went for broke and threw a vast array of attacking talent onto the field.

After the game our manager said "I got the feeling if we keep going we have a great chance, I wasn't happy with the draw, I wanted to win it. We brought more or less all our offensive players on, went more or less man against man all over the pitch, I wanted to go for it, My gut feeling was it's our day and we'll win three points.”

“You can have an idea and explain how to fulfil it and bring it to their heads, a 3-5-2, but to do it the first time in such an important game, all the praise has to go to the players. They were excellent in how they adapted to my risky thoughts. It was a massive win for us and a big confidence boost, I'm exhausted today but very, very happy.”

And after the game he told LUTV that to battle back from two down like that will be a great boost to the confidence of his squad. "These are key moments in the season, to be able to turn a game completely in such a difficult away ground. Norwich, let's be honest, is also a side who will be highly motivated to finish in the top six, perhaps even in the top two. It's good, the confidence is growing."

Farke kept with the same starting eleven which had served him well against Bristol City before the international, break, but it didn’t seem to have done him much good when the home side took the lead after four minutes. An inswinging corner was met by Duffy at the near post, and he was able to flick the ball into the net. It looked like Piroe was supposed to be marking him, and that defence isn’t the best part of the Dutchman’s game.

Leeds would have more of the play for most of the first half, but struggled to get any shots on target until Rutter forced Gunn into a decent save. Then Kamara played a neat one-two with Rutter but dragged his shot just wide of the far post. But our best chance before the break came when Piroe was put through on goal, but curled his left foot shot just wide of the post.

On half an hour Nowrich’s original keeper Gunn sustained an injury and had to be replaced by Lowe, but that can’t be said to have played any part in how the rest of the game unfolded. And after absorbing everything we could through at them, Norwich managed to ened the first half as they sharted it, this time with a fine individual goal from Sara.

He showed a Rutter-like level of control, turning and then moving between four Leeds defenders with excellent footwork, before shooting past Meslier. Very reminiscent of Rutter’s goal at Ipswich. So it was all doom and gloom in the Leeds end at half time, and there were one or two posts on social media which would look very silly by the final whistle.

Leeds came out for the second period looking determined to get back into the game, and Gibson had to react smartly to block a shot from Summerville. Then on 63 minutes Leeds finally got a foothold in the game. Rutter sent James to the byline, and Duffy deflected the ball into his own net while trying to clear. He could have let the ball run across the face of goal, but he wasn’t to know that there wasn’t any Leeds player coming in behind him.

Almost immediately Norwich had the chance to restore their two goal advantage, but Meslier pulled off an excellent save from a Sara free kick. With 20 minutes left Farke took Kamara and Byram off in favour of Bamford and the returning Gnonto, turning to a 3-5-2 formation to accommodate all the attacking players he now had on the pitch. It could have unravelled and resulted in an even worse defeat, but Leeds seemed galvanised and began to take control.

Lowe got down to make a fine save when James cut in from the left and hit a fierce low shot that was going in at the near post, but the equaliser would come from the resulting corner. The ball was played to Summerville outside the area, with the Dutchman unchalleneged as Norwich had all their defenders inside the box. But Summerville managed to curl the ball round all of them and it went in off the far post, with Lowe unable to get to it.

But we weren’t going to settle for a draw, and with six minutes remaining Anthony was sent in place of James as a fresh pair of legs to run at a tiring Norwich defence. And a minute later Rutter played a perfectly weighted ball out of defence intp Summerville’s path, so the Dutchman didn’t have to break stride as he raced down the wing. As he approached the box he cut inside past a defender and then curled his shot into the far corner.

But of course, gung-ho tactics will only get you so far. As eight minutes of injury time were announced and we now had a lead to protect, Farke sent on the much malighed Ayling and Cooper in place of Piroe and Summerville to reinforce the defence. And it worked, as we were able to see out the remaining time to complete a remarkable victory after coming back from two goals down.

This third consecutive win took us up to third place in the table after both Sunderland and Preston dropped points. And in theory we also closed the gap on the top two, but that was only due to Ipswich’s game being postponed, and it’s quite likely they will beat Rotherham whenever that game is eventually played.

But if we can keep showing the same spirit we did yesterday and the same attacking flair, we surely won’t be too far away from the top two at the end of the season.

Reuters

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