Leeds United impressed with the manner of their victory at Old Trafford
James Smailes Head of All Out Rugby League and Yorkshire sport at Reach plc
13:54, 14 Apr 2026
Ao Tanaka of Leeds United has a shot blocked by Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United
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Ao Tanaka of Leeds United has a shot blocked by Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United(Image: Getty Images)
Leeds United celebrated a significant evening at Old Trafford on Monday night. A first league win in 45 years at Manchester United, which means a first-ever Premier League away win at their great rivals, but also a huge three points in the fight to stay in the top flight.
Leeds went two goals up through Noah Okafor and could have been three or even four goals to the good at half-time. Despite a sending off for the hosts, the 10-men came back with a goal through Casemiro, but Leeds held on in what was a famous night.
Here's how the national media reviewed what happened.
Jeremy Cross, the Mirror
Leeds blew a golden chance to make it 3-0 and kill-off United altogether, when Martinez somehow slid in to stop Ao Tanaka, when he seemed certain to score. United were booed off at half time, but Carrick refused to make changes. And Sesko came close to pulling one back for United, but saw his looping shot headed off his own line by James Justin.
And United's miserable night went from bad to worse when Martinez was shown a straight red card for pulling the hair of Calvert-Lewin following a tussle in midfield. United were in a deep hole.
Leeds looked to pile on the pain, with Calvert-Lewin heading just wide. Travelling fans were loving every minute, and taunted United's flops with chants of 'Ole' as the visitors dominated possession.
That stopped once Casemiro scored to set up a frantic finish. But Leeds got over the line to move six points clear of the drop zone - on a damaging night for Tottenham in the bottom three.
Simon Stone, BBC Sport
The joy of the Leeds fans as they remained in the stadium and sang their songs long after the final whistle and their jubilant team had left the pitch underlined just what this win - against this particular opponent, on this particular ground, after so long - meant.
There were 3,000 Leeds supporters inside Old Trafford, but legend will claim there were far more. But for Daniel Farke and his players, beating Manchester United is worth something far more significant.
Premier League survival has come down to a battle between four clubs, with one of them destined to join Wolves and Burnley, who are surely Championship-bound. Had Calvert-Lewin taken the two gilt-edged chances that came his way either side of Okafor's double, the late scares would have been avoided, so too if Martinez had not denied Ao Tanaka with an amazing goalline tackle to prevent Leeds going three up by half-time.
Michael Butler, The Guardian
I said before the game that Leeds United’s line-up was an attacking one and you have to give Daniel Farke a huge amount of credit for the way that they set up.
The visitors were utterly dominant first half, and should have really put the game to bed in the second half, especially with the red card for Martínez. But Casemiro’s goal made things very nervy and Leeds United ended up needing a goalline clearance and a couple of big saves from Darlow!
Adam Bate, Sky Sports
Fresh from securing their spot in an FA Cup semi-final last weekend, Leeds played like a team fighting to stay in the Premier League from the outset with Okafor and Calvert-Lewin, in particular, proving too hot to handle for the Manchester United defenders.
Calvert-Lewin was denied by Senne Lammens even before Okafor calmly converted Jayden Bogle's cross for the opener and the same player then lashed in a deflected volley to give Daniel Farke's side a deserved second in front of the Stretford End.
Carrick's team had not played for 24 days prior to this and were fortunate not to let in a third before the break, the returning Martinez pulling off a desperate challenge near the line to keep out Ao Tanaka with Lammens beaten. Leeds were rampant at that stage.
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