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As the kick-off approached and the traffic jams which at one point had trapped Rafa Benítez and his Everton players intensified, hundreds of Leeds fans emerged from cars and coaches. near. Tired of waiting, they descended a slip road leading to Elland Road from the M621 and, ignoring the heavy rain soaking them to the skin, made their way to the stadium.
For the first time since 2004, Elland Road hosted a packed house for a Premier League game and no one wanted traffic jams on the motorways to ruin a long-awaited afternoon. Once inside, the floor transformed into a life-affirming wall of noise as supporters waved yellow flags handed out to mark the occasion.
Granted, 8,000 saw a win over West Brom in May, but after pandemic-induced lockouts exiled the vast majority of supporters when Marcelo Bielsa’s side finally came to the fore last year , it was a special day.
“It was very emotional to play in front of the fans again,” said the Leeds manager. “It made us very happy. “
All fears that football itself could be an outcome were quickly allayed as a breathtaking competition, choreographed by two of the best coaches of their generation, unfolded.
At times the midfield seemed as crowded as the roads in West Yorkshire. Indeed, judging by the ferocity of some tackles, the temperaments were likely to overheat as much as a few car engines stuck in previous traffic jams. At one point, Jordan Pickford had to separate belligerent Yerry Mina and Patrick Bamford.
But an outstanding performance from Everton’s Demarai Gray was already raising the tone when Dominic Calvert-Lewin appeared on Liam Cooper’s blind side and Bielsa’s captain nearly removed the striker’s shirt.
A penalty was awarded and, despite a daringly short run, Calvert-Lewin’s kick slipped out of reach of Illan Meslier.
Rebellious, Leeds fans cranked up the decibel level, reminding their team that they were ‘walking together’, and Bielsa’s players responded with a fine goal when the otherwise-distracted Bamford stole Michael Keane and provided Mateusz Klich with a smart reverse pass. All that was left was Klich – deployed in the “hole” of a 3-3-1-3 – to accelerate into the box before pushing the ball past Pickford’s advance.
This delicate chip seemed emblematic of the subtlety of Klich’s play as he traversed the sometimes surprisingly large gaps between Everton midfielder and center-backs. No wonder Benítez spent much of the first half filling out his logbook with seemingly urgent observations, as his team initially didn’t seem entirely comfortable alternating between 4- 2-3-1 and 4-4-2.
Gray, however, always seemed capable of disrupting Bielsa’s game plan and, of course, the former Bayer Leverkusen winger restored Everton’s lead early in the second half. After recovering a nice pass from the increasingly influential Abdoulaye Doucouré, he created an opening by moving the ball to his less favored left foot and by unleashing a fabulous low and tilted shot beyond Meslier.
“Everyone can see that Demarai is doing well,” Benítez said. ” I am really happy. Little by little, we had more chances and more control and we could have won. But we were also under pressure from a very good team and we had to fight for every ball.
Although Leeds enjoyed considerable possession, Everton continued to threaten in the counterattack. Indeed, without the excellent goalkeeper of Meslier, Calvert-Lewis would have managed a hat-trick on time.
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The time had come for Kalvin Phillips to remind everyone why he was so important for England this summer and the Leeds midfielder did not disappoint by throwing a magnificent ball into the box. Cooper blasted the hitherto isolated Raphinha, who, finally seizing the limelight, looped a sumptuous but venomous low shot with his left foot past the blind Pickford.
Only Bielsa and Benítez were left to engage in the warmest of post-match discussions on the pitch.
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