October began with Daniel Farke’s Leeds United welcoming Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur to Elland Road. The visitors took the lead in fortuitous circumstances when Mathys Tel’s right-footed strike took a wicked deflection to wrongfoot Karl Darlow but the Whites responded well, levelling proceedings through Noah Okafor.
Brenden Aaronson had initially forced a fine save from Guglielmo Vicario though the Swiss international was quickest to react and bundle home. Somewhat against the run of play, the visitors retook the lead through another shot that cannoned off a white shirt and despite throwing everything at Spurs, including a Joël Piroe chance saved by Vicario, it wasn’t to be.
The result ended United’s 23-game unbeaten league run at Elland Road yet despite the defeat, the boss wasn’t too disheartened with what he had seen from his side, telling the media: “We had more possession, we had more passes, we had more expected goals, we had more shots, we had more shots on target, we had more big chances created, we had more big chances missed, we had more corners.
“In each and every aspect, we were the better side today. Football is decided by goals. We missed too many of the good chances today in the first half and the second half. Yes, at this level, each of the little mistakes is punished.”
From there, eight senior players headed off away on international duty with work to be done in the World Cup qualifiers and returned for what would prove to be a frustrating afternoon over the Pennines at Turf Moor where Leeds were edged out by Burnley, despite once again dominating the statistics.
Without a win in three, attentions quickly turned to the home meeting with West Ham United. Elland Road at the best of times can be a cauldron of noise and outpouring of emotion but there is something even more special about a Friday night encounter under the lights.
The Hammers were quick to find that out, within three minutes to be precise, as Aaronson was well placed to pounce and grab the opener from close range. If the famous old ground was rocking, the roof then very nearly came off as defender Joe Rodon made it two with a towering header beyond Alphonse Areola on the quarter of an hour mark.
The evening’s first goalscorer was impressive throughout and very nearly made it three, seeing a strike rattle the crossbar following the a mazy run from inside his own half. West Ham did pull one back late on but the Whites saw out the victory. After the full-time whistle, Player of the Match Aaronson highlighted the importance of the fans in helping United over the line.
“It was a great atmosphere,” the American said. “It is amazing to score early. A couple of times last year we had a couple early goals to start the game and it was huge for us. It was a relief for me, to be honest with you. I kept at it. I worked this whole week at my finishing again and, yeah, I am proud of my mentality and I am proud of the group.
“I think defensively we were good today. We handled a lot of crossing situations from them. And listen, West Ham is a team that has a ton of quality so it was definitely a difficult game. The message all week was late minutes in the game, stay on top of it and get the result which we needed today.”
Farke’s men ended the month with 11 points taken from their opening nine outings, sitting 15th – crucially three positions above the relegation zone with a challenging looking November looming just around the corner.