No sooner had the fourth official, Michael Salisbury, who had the thankless task of pacifying two bickering benches throughout an ill-tempered, illogical and, frankly, ludicrous contest, indicated there would be at least eight more minutes of mayhem in this bonkers match, Leeds contrived to register one final, barmy twist.
Luke Ayling, who had kept a hanging stoppage-time free-kick alive at the back post, lashed in from close range to cause chaos on the sidelines and pandemonium among the ballistic away fans in the lower bank of the Steve Bull Stand. Kalvin Phillips and Joe Gelhardt were among the unused substitutes who instinctively charged from one side of the pitch to the other to join the celebrations. It was a simply remarkable and potentially season-shaping comeback win, and a game that will live long in the memory, regardless of persuasion.
It was utter chaos but Wolves, who squandered a two-goal lead, were left sick with fury. Raúl Jiménez’s controversial sending-off was the turning point for a Leeds team exposed in the first half by a rampant Wolves side, when goals by Jonny and the substitute Trincão, who arrived midway through the first half in place of the injured Rúben Neves, seemed destined to set Wolves on their way to a third successive victory. But two goals in four second-half minutes after Jiménez, already on a booking, was sent off for colliding with Illan Meslier, the Leeds goalkeeper, totally altered the landscape and Wolves had to play for virtually the entire second half with 10 men. “That decision changed the game,” said the Wolves head coach, Bruno Lage, whose clipboard lay forlorn on the floor of the away technical area after Leeds’s equaliser.
At the final whistle, Leeds’s flurry of injuries felt a long time ago. By the time Meslier was replaced by Kristoffer Klaesson, thrown on for his debut with 55 minutes gone, Leeds had already exhausted their substitutes. Patrick Bamford hobbled off in tears after 21 minutes after attempting to latch on to a through ball before Diego Llorente and then Mateusz Klich were also forced off. Raphinha, meanwhile, missed the game with Covid. Wolves were also forced into a reshuffle after Neves’s knee injury. Jesse Marsch said a distraught Bamford’s “reaction could look like a bad injury” but suggested it was nothing more concerning than plantar fasciitis.
For Leeds, a rip-roaring victory – and a second stoppage-time win in five days – lifts Marsch’s side seven points above the relegation zone. “I’m learning more and more about the identity of Leeds United and it’s gritty, it’s never-say-die,” Marsch said. “I told them [the players] this was not just one of the best results in my career but that I’ve seen in a game, and it’s almost two games in a row. It is about the character and the hearts of our men. The players deserve all of the credit.”
It was a jam-packed first half and a disastrous one from a Leeds perspective, even if Marsch’s men began with plenty of gusto. Bamford squandered their best opening on 11 minutes. Daniel James seized on Neves’s abnormally loose touch and Bamford, faced with the Wolves captain Conor Coady, bared down on goal but screwed his shot wide. Marsch applauded from the sidelines but the picture quickly changed, as Wolves were allowed to stretch their legs. But Jiménez’s red card swung the pendulum and Jack Harrison’s goal a couple of minutes later fuelled Leeds’s belief. For Jiménez and Wolves, it was a sense of disbelief.
The manner of the equaliser was nothing short of absurd. Stuart Dallas lay prone, grounded from a poor challenge by João Moutinho, who was lucky to avoid going the same way as Jiménez, but Leeds nevertheless pushed forward. James hit the woodwork when attempting to lob José Sá in the Wolves goal but the hosts failed to eliminate the danger. Romain Saïss’s wild clearance ballooned into the air and the Leeds substitute Sam Greenwood, who replaced Bamford, coolly controlled the ball and located Rodrigo, who skittled his shot inside the near post. Three minutes earlier, Harrison had fired in from close range after Ayling smacked a post.
It was a game that had the fingerprints of some of the topsy-turvy games during Marcelo Bielsa’s reign. Wolves supporters raged as they trudged away, fresh from jeering the referee, Kevin Friend, off the pitch but a hoarse Marsch roared towards Angus Kinnear, the Leeds chief executive, and the rest of the travelling contingent in the directors’ box as he headed down the tunnel. An ecstatic Ayling, who attempted the striker Robbie Keane’s cartwheel celebration, bounced his way off the pitch, receiving a hero’s welcome from the Leeds coaching staff who stayed pitchside to greet the captain and his teammates. “From day one they accepted me,” Marsch said of his players. “None of them have made fun of my accent,” he smiled.
