Middlesbrough 3-4 Leeds: Whites finish second in the championship


Incredibly, in December’s reverse fixture at Elland Road, Leeds also led 3-2 at half-time.

Although the teams failed to match the three goals in the first seven minutes in West Yorkshire, it was another frenetic start to this encounter.

Boro took the lead when Finn Azaz’s attempt deflected into the path of Latte Lath who managed to pass the ball to Jones and he tapped into an empty net.

Leeds had lost two of their previous three games and scored just once in that period, but equalized almost immediately.

Rutter beat Dijksteel, replacing the ineligible Luke Ayling, and the Dutchman brought him down in the box to allow Summerville to calmly send in their 19th goal of the season.

Former Boro striker Bamford gave Leeds the lead when he converted Firpo’s cross with his hip despite home defense and goalkeeper Seny Dieng’s appeal for offside.

Latte Lath made it 2-2 with a fabulous shot as he crossed the 18-yard box, but Gnonto had Leeds in front at the end of a topsy-turvy opening 45 minutes with a measured finish after an attack incisor.

The second half struggled to live up to the action-packed nature of the first, with Leeds content to allow the home side to have possession and look to play on the counterattack.

It worked perfectly when they won the ball back on the halfway line and Firpo transferred the ball to the superb Summerville who stepped up and headed home.

Boro, who needed to win to maintain any hope of retaining their play-off bid, were understandably deflated by this and the match seemed to run out of steam before Latte Lath scored with a wonderfully improvised header from Alex’s long ball forward Gilbert.

Having given an unlikely lifeline, they pulled out all the stops to try and find another goal, with Dieng coming forward for numerous late set pieces, but Leeds held on for a first win since April 1 .

Leeds travel to QPR on Friday in their final away game of the season and could be four points clear of Ipswich before the Tractor Boys travel to Hull on Saturday.

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