How Leeds secured Premier League return: Part Twopublished at 20:32 British Summer Time 21 April
FT: Leeds 6-0 Stoke
Image source, Rex FeaturesThe victory over Sheffield United on 24 February left them five points clear at the top and, with a seemingly favourable run of fixtures until the end of the campaign, promotion looked inevitable.
However, March brought just one win from five and the 2-2 draw with Swansea saw Farke drop goalkeeper Illan Meslier for Karl Darlow after the Frenchman, who had also made costly errors in draws at Sunderland and Hull City, gifted the Welsh side their first equaliser.
The German boss was then criticised by some after saying the point from the 1-1 draw at lowly Luton in the next game was a good result but it proved to be the case as the Blades totally lost their way with three successive defeats and the Whites went from third back to first and five points clear of Chris Wilder’s men in third with three games to play.
Leeds players celebrated with the fans after Monday’s 6-0 win over Stoke had left them on the cusp of promotion
Monday’s demolition of struggling Stoke meant that, thanks to a vastly superior goal difference, a point from their final two matches would have been enough to go up but even that was not needed thanks to Burnley’s win.
Farke, who had chosen not to make any further signings in the January transfer window, is now closing in on a third title at this level after winning two with Norwich.
A huge summer awaits as Leeds look to buck the worrying trend that appears set to see all of the past six teams promoted to the Premier League go straight back down.
Plans to avoid that fate will now truly begin in earnest on Tuesday but for now Farke and the Leeds fans, robbed of being able to properly celebrate their last promotion to the top flight in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, can enjoy a job well done.
