Leeds United came out with a 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in the Championship on Saturday to bounce back from their defeat to Millwall.
The Whites had lost 1-0 at The Den on Wednesday night and immediately bounced back to secure all three points at Elland Road at the weekend.
Goals from Jayden Bogle and Joel Piroe either side of half-time were enough to claim the win, with a fifth clean sheet in the last six home games providing the attackers with the platform to go and win the match.
There were a number of players who caught the eye with impressive performances for Daniel Farke‘s side in the win over Marti Cifuentes’ men…
Leeds United’s top performers against QPR
One star who impressed was the scorer of the opening goal in the game – Bogle. The right-back found the back of the net with a close range volley to make it 1-0 after several players fluffed their lines inside the box.
He also won nine of his 12 ground duels throughout the game to complete five of his seven attempted dribbles and win three tackles for his side, which shows that the full-back made an impact in and out of possession.
Central midfielder Joe Rothwell put in an assured and quality display in the middle of the park, completing 94% of his attempted passes and creating two chances. It was his burst and cross down the left side of the box that eventually created Bogle’s goal.
Central defender Pascal Struijk was also crucial to the clean sheet, winning five of his seven duels without being dribbled past a single time, with a dominant performance at the heart of the defence.
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There was also another impressive showing from Joel Piroe as a substitute for the Whites and Farke appears to have unearthed his own version of Jhon Duran.
Leeds United’s own Jhon Duran
The Aston Villa striker has made a name for himself as a super substitute for the Premier League side, with four goals as a substitute in the top flight and one in the Champions League – four of those five goals were also match-winners.
Duran’s most memorable goal, arguably, was his terrific lobbed finish against Bayern Munich to win the match for the Villans in the Champions League at Villa Park.
Piroe came off the bench to score the second goal, to make sure of all three points, against QPR on Saturday and that was his sixth goal as a substitute in 2024, which is the most by any Leeds player in history in a calendar year.
The Whites record-breaker, who was once hailed as “dangerous” by journalist Josh Bunting, has been a reliable source of goals off the bench for Farke this term.
24/25 Championship | Joel Piroe |
|---|---|
Appearances | 15 (seven starts) |
xG | 4.11 |
Goals | 6 |
Assists | 2 |
Goals off the bench | 4 |
Assists off the bench | 1 |
As you can see in the table above, Piroe has contributed with five direct goal contributions in eight appearances as a substitute for Leeds so far this season.
He has been a fantastic option for the German head coach to call upon in the second half of matches, to provide his team with a big threat in the final third, which has also been the case for Unai Emery with Duran.
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The former Leeds United star has gone on to enjoy a great career in the Premier League.
Whilst Piroe may prefer to start week-in-week-out, using him as an impact substitute appears to be the most effective way for Leeds to make use of his quality right now.
