Not a single Leeds supporter would have picked Pascal Struijk as the star of the penultimate act of the incredible rollercoaster ride that is the Premier League survival race. Leeds have shown little respect for the script to this point, though, so it is perhaps no surprise that a defender thrown on with seven minutes remaining scored the goal that could yet be key to keeping them in the Premier League.
There are still more twists and turns to come but the scenes as Struijk frantically headed home Joe Gelhardt’s chipped cross in added time told you everything you needed to know. Elland Road came together as one at the culmination of an absorbing afternoon that left several of the home players sinking to the turf at full time, emotionally and physically spent. A few minutes earlier, the mood could not have been more different.
