Leeds United got a huge win on the board against relegation rivals West Ham.
Leeds United's preparations for West Ham were more difficult than Daniel Farke let on before the game so there was relief and pride after they 'dug in' for a 2-1 win.
Farke's men were well worth their 2-0 half-time lead, which came thanks to Brenden Aaronson's early goal and a Joe Rodon header from Sean Longstaff's corner. A wildly open first half brought further chances for Leeds to bury the game but they lacked composure at the crucial moment, while West Ham brought one save from Lucas Perri and had a goal chalked off for offside.
The second half was attritional stuff with Leeds conceding more and more possession and territory, yet defending their box stoutly. Cross after cross was headed away until stoppage time when Mateus Fernandes was allowed to ghost into the area and flick a Jarrod Bowen cross into the far corner.
Leeds saw out the final couple of minutes comfortably enough, however, to celebrate a vital victory and three points that move them seven clear of the Hammers.
"It's never easy to win a Premier League game on this level," said Farke. "We had a really difficult week, even more than I spoke about in my last press conference. We were struggling so much with illness and injury, players just back from injury like Noah and Dan James. Anton Stach had another hit to his rib and was in pain. It was so difficult to find a good balance. We couldn't afford to leave out everyone who had missed training sessions."
Despite the disruptions to the build-up, Leeds got off to a lightning quick start. But as the game wore on, the week caught up with them and Farke saw it in the way things played out.
"We started very aggressive, very brave, deserved to be 2-0 up," he said. "You could feel a little bit that it was a bit wild with and without the ball. We've been more dominant in other games but it was a difficult training week for us. The second half we started way better in terms of control and organisation and the last 20 minutes you could see again what a difficult week we had. So many players were struggling. It was about digging in and grinding out a result. We dropped a bit too deep for the goal we conceded.
"But a priceless three points. The first game after losing momentum is never an easy, straightforward win. You have to dig in to win the momentum back so I'm very, very pleased."
It also pleased the boss that the opening goal came from the boot of a player he admits 'polarises' opinion among fans. Farke felt the criticism aimed at Aaronson after the loss at Burnley was disproportionate.
"I know that he's a player who polarises at times and gets lots of stick when he has a poorer day," said Farke. "He's a younger player who can have a bit more clarity in his actions and be a bit more clinical but we have to back him a little bit more. He works his socks off for Leeds United. Standing ovations when he came off against Bournemouth and Spurs. He played in a different time zone on Wednesday, was on a normal commercial flight back from the international break without sleeping a night and [at Turf Moor] just missed a sitter, it wasn't a bad performance but he got so much stick. I'm pretty pleased he was recovered, recharged and ready to go [against West Ham]. Noah was perhaps ready for just 45, I wanted on the other side a player who has trained the full week. He's not let us down, it was an excellent performance, great he's in the spotlight with a goal. It was a top performance."
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