Leeds United 2-2 Swansea City: Control
Football is ninety minutes of striving for joy and, given the odds, winning is so rare that to demand it of the participants would be foolish of me and unfair on them.
Football is ninety minutes of striving for joy and, given the odds, winning is so rare that to demand it of the participants would be foolish of me and unfair on them.
The greatest factor in coming weeks is likely to be something altogether simple: the Leeds United team, whoever is on the pitch at any time, just playing well and winning.
One of the curiosities around a recent sense that Daniel Farke's team has become a bit more fun is how that has depended on Leeds playing a bit more worse. It's not a coincidence that this match with Millwall ended 2-0, the tenth 2-0 win of the season.
No matter how many chances the cosmos could give Leeds to do this game over, I suspect Pompey's strength would keep doing Leeds over every single time.
The fear of a promotion race is always about future regrets, that if these two lost points aren't hurting on a sunny day, they might come back with a vengeance some bleak afternoon to come.
It's not always how you start but how you end, in football, but you have to work hard to make sure the last goal is important, and yours.
Pascal Struijk was wearing the most enormous unmovable grin you'll ever see on a footballer. A lot of football had to happen over a long time for that smile to get that wide.
Confidence breeds confidence but this form must be inspiring a contagious 'oh no' in the rest of the Championship that gives Leeds an advantage before they have to do another thing.
Sometimes all the FA Cup becomes is a game against Millwall, again, too soon. But football matches still form their own entities and so the players picked to play could take to the pitch with heroics in mind.
Leeds United either did or didn't get what they wanted from the transfer window, and your perspective might have influenced how unhinged you felt as kick-off approached in Coventry. Personally I felt like I was going insane.