Becs show their class: Leeds 3 - 1 Brighton http://www.davidsnowball.co.uk/BHAFC/2008/10/becs-show-their-class-leeds-3-1.html?link=newsnowSjelden har vel 'motstanderen' lagt seg like flat etter et møte med Leeds. Brightons 'unofficial home' er ganske tydelige, spesielt i avslutningen:
Obviously the atmosphere generated by a crowd of more than 22,700 was amazing for a League One fixture, but it would be a great surprise to me if Albion return to play at Elland Road next season. Leeds surely won't blow their chance to escape the division this time round. Albion have got it all to do if they have any hope of joining them.
WHILE Becks of England awaited his cameo role against Kazakhstan, the Becs of Leeds ran riot against the Albion.
Luciano Becchio and Jermaine Beckford gave Tommy Elphick and Colin Hawkins a torrid time at Elland Road.
A goal apiece for the Leeds front pair and bookings for Albion's central defensive duo told the story of the first half.
Removing Hawkins from the fray at half-time was a sort of kindness more akin to putting down a wounded animal.
In truth he was lucky he made it to the half-time whistle because the referee could so easily have shown him red for the number of infringements the Irishman was guilty of as he struggled even to get close to the skilful and pacy Leeds forwards.
It was no surprise to see Adam Virgo drop back into Hawkins' position after the break - and he saw yellow for a virtually identical kind of foul inflicted by his colleagues.
If the class of the Becs was too hot for Albion to handle, so was the midfield prompting of Fabian Delph who was the architect of all that was so good about Leeds.
If Robbie Savage looked at the fixture list before he put pen to paper on his month's loan to Brighton, he would presumably have been licking his lips at the prospect of performing on the Elland Road stage. The shame was he didn't - and he was upstaged by the exquisite Delph.
In fact the only credit that Savage emerged with was his trotting over to the away fans' corner during the pre-match kick-about to pose for a picture with some enthusiastic Albion lads who had gone out of their way to don long-blond-haired wigs in tribute to the Welsh midfielder.
On the pitch, Savage did well to avoid the baiting of the crowd and several Leeds players, but his footballing contribution was minimal.
In fact, the killer second Leeds goal came direct from his failure to get a shot away in the Leeds penalty area, the ball being pinged straight down their left for a pinpoint cross which Beckford buried with a stunning header in off the underside of the bar.
It came in first half injury time only a minute or so after the Leeds opener from Becchio, whose initial shot was well blocked by Andy Whing. While Albion's beleaguered defenders watched, Becchio reacted quickest to smash home the rebound.
At least Adams reacted positively at half time in removing Hawkins from the action, along with David Livermore, who had also been booked and was another lucky not to have seen red.
The only trouble was, by Adams' own admission after the game, their replacements didn't do the job they were put on the pitch to do - namely get into wide positions and put in crosses. At least Kevin Thornton got on the ball and did some neat foraging on the right side, combining fairly well with Joe Anyinsah and Whing. But none of his work caused any damage. On the other flank, Dean Cox barely touched the ball and, frankly, didn't look too interested in getting involved either.
Anyinsah's pace and hard work gave Leeds some problems to handle but Glenn Murray was often too isolated up front with very little support around him.
His injury time strike was consolation for a tough afternoon - both for player and fans alike. He certainly dispatched it with aplomb having shaken off the attention of a couple of defenders.
Sadly, by then Albion were dead and buried after another horrendous late-in-the-game defensive lapse when Kuipers completely lost his head, careered way off his line to try to play sweeper on the edge of the penalty area and Beckford rounded him easily before calmly burying the ball into the net to give Leeds a 3-0 advantage.
To be honest, if Beckford in particular and Leeds in general had been more clinical rather than sitting comfortably on their 2-0 half-time cushion, Albion could - and probably should - have been buried out of sight.
It could quite easily have been 5-0 by the time Beckford struck again, such was Leeds' domination.
Obviously the atmosphere generated by a crowd of more than 22,700 was amazing for a League One fixture, but it would be a great surprise to me if Albion return to play at Elland Road next season. Leeds surely won't blow their chance to escape the division this time round. Albion have got it all to do if they have any hope of joining them.
Albion player ratings (marks out of 10):
Kuipers - 5,
Whing - 7,
Elphick - 4,
Hawkins - 3,
Richards - 6,
Anyinsah - 7,
Virgo - 6,
Thomson - 7,
Savage - 5,
Livermore - 4,
Murray - 7.
Subs:
Thornton - 6,
Cox - 3.
Nick Turrell
