Leeds breeze past Derby as Rodon scores first goal in English football

Joe Rodon and Max Wober scored their first goals for Leeds as a comfortable 2-0 home win over Derby sent them top of the Championship.

Wales defender Rodon headed in Joe Rothwell’s corner in the 39th minute before Austria international Wober, who replaced injured left-back Junior Firpo in the 21st minute, tapped home in the 44th minute.

Those two strikes were just reward for Leeds’ first-half dominance and provided the platform for a victory which saw them bounce back from last Saturday’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at Blackburn.

For Paul Warne’s Rams, this latest setback marked a third straight defeat and left them with just one win in their last 10 Championship games.

Leeds dominated possession during the opening quarter but initially struggled to make it pay against a hard-working Derby.

In the 13th minute, Leeds right-back Jayden Bogle advanced forward and tried to play in Brenden Aaronson, but his pass was blocked by a Derby defender.

The Rams continued to defend stoutly in the face of mounting pressure from their hosts.

Craig Forsyth did well to block a dangerous low cross from the right by Dan James before Kayden Jackson was booked for hauling down Aaronson.

Another cross by James was then cleared by Curtis Nelson and in the 21st minute Leeds lost Firpo to a knock, with Wober replacing him.

But the Whites continued to probe and it needed a fine block from Derby defender Eiran Cashin to deny Aaronson after he found the space to shoot on the edge of the six-yard box.

From a corner on the right moments later, Rothwell’s delivery was met at the far post by the unmarked Rodon, who sent a header wide from six yards out.

In the 38th minute, Aaronson did well to turn inside the box and fire a shot which Jacob Widell Zetterstrom parried.

From the resulting corner on the right, Rothwell flighted in another fine out-swinging delivery and this time Rodon made no mistake, planting a firm header into the net from six yards out.

As half-time approached, Leeds scored their second when James’ neat pass found Aaronson down the right flank.

His low, whipped cross deflected off Jerry Yates and into the path of Wober, who tapped home right-footed from six yards out to make it 2-0 at the break.

Six minutes into the second half, Manor Solomon curled a right-footed shot just wide of the far post from 20 yards out.

In the 58th minute, James hit a thumping 25-yard effort which was parried by Widell Zetterstrom, who then dived low to his right to keep out Ao Tanaka’s 20-yard strike.

Moments later, the overworked Rams goalkeeper did superbly to turn Joel Piroe’s low shot around a post for a corner.

Liam Thompson then hit a 25-yard shot at Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier in what was Derby’s first effort on target as Leeds ran out comfortable winners.

Player of the match – Joe Rodon

Leeds defender Joe Rodon told Sky Sports:

“To get a win and a clean sheet is all we can ask for. I think my first chance was a bit easier but we worked on it all week. It’s big to score from a set-piece.

“Everyone knows it’s a very long season and every team provides a different challenge. All we can keep doing is put three points on the board and we keep moving.”

The managers

Leeds’ Daniel Farke:

“I’m very happy with this win as it’s come after a loss. For 10-15 minutes at the start we were a bit static on the ball but overall we were pretty dominant.

“They have scored in all of their last eight games so it’s extra special to keep a clean sheet. Today, I think we were all over them and could have scored even more. We dominated them and the xG showed that as well. We kept them quiet at set-pieces.

“If you do this against Derby, you’ve got a pretty good chance of being successful and the deliveries were good considering the storm.

“Junior Firpo has a hamstring injury so we will have to assess him. It’ll be difficult for him to be available for the midweek game [against Middlesbrough].”

Derby’s Paul Warne:

“It was tough. I thought we started the game OK but it was disappointing to concede from a set-piece as I didn’t think we were getting cut open. We didn’t have enough personality on the ball when we got it back.

“It was always going to come wave upon wave. If you can be resolute until half-time – I know from it being the other way around – I know the home crowd won’t have been happy with 0-0 considering the amount of ball they had. Then the game might have changed.

“Instead, it changed on a set piece and unfortunately they scored again soon afterwards. In the second half, the lads gave everything but we just didn’t have any goal threat and that’s what is disappointing.”