Jayden Bogle celebrates Leeds' opener against QPR
Leeds regained the winning habit against Queens Park Rangers to move second in the table with a hard-fought three points.
A first defeat in nine against Millwall last Wednesday had put a dent in Leeds’ promotion charge.
But against struggling QPR, Jayden Bogle’s first-half strike and a second from Joel Piroe in stoppage time proved enough for Daniel Farke’s side to put themselves on the shoulder of leaders Sunderland.
QPR fought hard in the face of relentless pressure from a dominant Leeds, who created a host of chances but struggled to convert until Piroe’s late nerve-settler.
Despite all their effort, defeat and results elsewhere left the west London club bottom of the table, two points adrift of Portsmouth and five from safety.
Leeds boss Farke made three changes to the side which lost in south London, two through choice and the other after Junior Firpo was retrospectively suspended for three matches for violent conduct in the closing stages.
They were changes which worked well with Manor Solomon, Mateo Joseph and Firpo’s replacement Sam Byram giving QPR plenty to contend with in a first half the home side dominated.
Leeds had chances to double or even triple their lead after Bogle's opener but had to settle for being one up at the break, the defender's 19th minute strike in off the underside of the bar concluding some penalty area pinball.
Brenden Aaronson, Ao Tanaka were guilty of missing good opportunities but Solomon had the ball in the net after converting Byram’s cross only for the linesman’s flag to rule the latter offside in the build up,
Even though the statistics at half-time painted an accurate picture of a QPR side under the pump, with Leeds having 10 shots to their one and nearly 70% of possession, the visitors might have gone in level had Jimmy Dunne kept a header down from a set-piece on 36 minutes.
After the break it was more of the same with the hard-working visitors continuing to frustrate their hosts.
Joe Rodon had a header blocked on 56 minutes and then Solomon was denied by a brave piece of goalkeeping from Paul Nardi, who was off his line quickly and took the shot in the face.
As the half wore on Leeds’ inability to put the game to bed started to fray some nerves around Elland Road, Zan Celar having an effort blocked and Sam Field firing just over from a central position.
Pascal Struijk missed a golden chance by firing wide and Wilfried Gnonto, Bogle and Piroe all had sights of goal but could not find the net.
Deep into added time, though, Piroe finally managed to dance his way through a crowded box and beat Nardi from a tight angle.
Leeds head coach Daniel Farke told BBC Radio Leeds:
"Of course it should have been more convincing but I am just happy with the win and I have to give many compliments to my lads.
"To deliver such a performance in the third game in seven days and to respond after a loss is never easy to answer in the next game with a win, but that is what we did.
"That was an electrifying first half and we fully deserved to go into the lead although we were a bit wasteful with our chances.
"QPR are struggling a little bit but they are much better than their position in the table. They are always an offensive threat.
"But when you don’t bury the game you have to stay focused and concentrate and that's what we did so I’m very happy with the performance, the win and the clean sheet."
Queens Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes said:
"I receive a lot of confidence from the club and I work as always. We managed a similar situation last season and I spoke about expectations in the summer.
"No-one wanted or expected to be in the situation we are now but that’s the reality of football.
"We have a very important game against Stoke after the international break, so we have to keep believing. There are a lot of games and it’s in our hands to turn the situation around. That’s the target.
"The most important target now is to recover some players (after injury) and keep on working."
