Trepidation has been rife at Leeds United this time period, with final season’s success in staving off the specter of Premier League relegation not precisely getting used as a constructive basis for this time period, on condition that the lurking hazard of the drop threatens to engulf the distinguished outfit as soon as extra.
Javi Gracia changed the dismissed Jesse Marsch within the managerial place in February and acquired off to a powerful begin after defeating relegation rivals Southampton, and he has now claimed a second very important victory towards Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Now holding simply one defeat – away towards Chelsea – in his 4 league outings with the Whites, Gracia will probably be delighted with how his outfit blitzed right into a 3-0 lead shortly after the hour mark towards Wolves, although faltering of their defensive duties and seeing the house aspect scale back the deficit to only one aim within the second half.
With pressure on the fore, the Previous Gold’s Jonny Otto acquired a pink card within the latter section of the affair for a reckless problem on Luke Ayling with simply over 5 minutes on the clock.
Within the dying embers, Spanish talisman Rodrigo capitalised on the numerical benefit and located house within the central channel, breaking free and chipping the hapless Jose Sa to cement the win and elevate Leeds to 14th within the desk.
Was Rodrigo “good” vs Wolves?
Rodrigo had been sidelined for six successive league matches till getting back from the bench throughout final week’s draw towards Brighton & Hove Albion, however this time round, his exploits had been much more fruitful.
The strike in Wolverhampton takes the 32-year-old’s seasonal tally to 13, having performed 24 matches throughout all competitions; given Leeds’ discernible lack of efficient firepower lately, his return couldn’t come as a extra auspicious time.
As per Sofascore, the £100k-per-week phenom earned a 7.3 match ranking for his 23-minute cameo, complementing his stylish end with two tackles and succeeding in 5 of his six duels, making 19 touches.
On prime of his placing prowess, this degree of robustness is strictly what Gracia wants from the collective squad to forestall a plummet into the second tier, with Rodrigo rating among the many prime 11% of forwards throughout Europe’s massive 5 leagues for clearances per 90, as per FBref.
Hailed for his “good” match-sealing strike by Phil Hay, the veteran ahead certainly returns to the fold on the good time, with Leeds now placing two factors between themselves and the underside three, having languished in peril solely in the beginning of the day.
Jack Harrison grabbed a aim and help towards the Seagulls beforehand, and seems to have discovered his taking pictures boots with one other aim in the present day, his third strike of the league time period, however it is going to definitely be the return to scoring kind for Rodrigo that would be the most melodious tune for Gracia, with no different United participant discovering the again of the web greater than 4 instances throughout all competitions.
And together with his taking pictures boots nonetheless very a lot tightly outfitted, the percentages might need simply swayed within the favour of Gracia’s outfit, hinting at a return to a vibrant-hued purple patch.
