Leeds United got the better of Nottingham Forest in Wednesday night’s Championship fixture as they ran out 2-nil winners at the Elland Road, courtesy of Chris Wood and Souleymane Doukara.
It’s their 16th win of the campaign as they hope to seal a playoff spot in order to get Premier League promotion at the end of the season.
Wood’s impressive goalscoring abilities continued as he scored his 20th goal of the season from close range after the visitors failed to properly clear a corner kick 10 minutes after play restarted.
Some 20 minutes later, the 2nd half sub Souleymane Doukara sealed Leeds’ 10th home win out of 12 games with a goal-of-the-season contender as his 20-yard screamer found the back of the net.
Despite 16 shots all game from the hosts, there were very few chances at both ends of the pitch, with the only 2 shots on target going in, thanks to some lack of concentration from the now 19th-placed Forest.
Which player was the best and who was below par? We take a look at how each of Monk’s charges rate:
Green
Helped Leeds to their 6th successive clean sheet at home in all competitions, while keeping his own 12th clean sheet of the campaign.
He was forced to a brilliant save by Britt Assombalonga with the scores at nil-nil in the first half, and that was about the only time he was tested all game.
Rating: 8/10
Ayling
The full-back did well to keep Jamie Ward and Ben Osborn in check, and despite the initial pressure from the fast duo, he settled well into the game and contributed to the attack while also covering the centre defence positions as at when due.
Rating: 8/10
Bartley
Lost his man on one occasion, leading to the visitors only shot on target, but was solid afterwards as he became too much for the opponent’s attack to handle, with even Bendtner unable to make any difference upon his entrance.
Rating: 8/10
Berardi
While he did fairly well in Taylor’s absence, he was obviously the weakest link in the defence as he got well beaten easily most of the times, but he constantly burst forward as Leeds didn’t have a lot of defending to do.
Rating: 7/10
Jansson
The Swede returned to the lineup after his 2-game suspension and was all assuring again, as he made a vital last-ditch tackle on Ben Osborn on one occasion while he was also a threat at the front during set pieces.
Rating: 8/10
O’Kane
Making the starting lineup in over 6 weeks had its toll on the Ireland international who often looked out of sync with Bridcutt and needlessly gave the ball away on few occasions.
Might be back on the bench as a result.
Rating: 6/10
Roofe
Came close to scoring towards the end of the game and was a spark on the right though his finishing did let him down on a number of occasions.
Daniel Pinillos found him a very tricky customer though.
Rating: 7/10
Bridcutt
Wasn’t very impressive until the 2nd half, and was the perfect shield the Leeds defence would have wanted as his interceptions came handy, including one to deny Eric Lichaj a clear chance on goal.
Rating: 7/10
Dallas
Didn’t do justice to the rare starting berth he got on the flank, as his deliveries left little to desire while Eric Lichaj was too much for him to handle.
Had a better 2nd 45 minutes though.
Rating: 6/10
Pablo Hernández
Proved very instrumental again with the set-pieces, as his corner contributed to the opening goal that took the pressure off the team.
Wasn’t very dominating in the first period.
Rating: 7/10
Wood
Despite having a goal rightly disallowed, it didn’t stop the New Zealand international from grabbing his 6th goal in 4 league appearances and 17th goal of the campaign.
Rating: 9/10
SUBSTITUTES
Doukara
Sealed the victory with a goal that sent the stadium into a frenzy.
Rating: 8/10
Ronaldo Vieira
Late Sub.
Rating: 7/10
Mowatt
Late Sub.
Rating: 6/10