Roofe strike sets Leeds on the path to victory

Posted Sunday, May 06, 2018 by PA

Kemar Roofe scored a spectacular acrobatic effort to help Leeds sign off their Sky Bet Championship campaign with a 2-0 victory over QPR at Elland Road.

The forward opened the scoring on the half-hour mark with a fantastic bicycle kick to set the Whites on their way before Kalvin Phillips added a deserved second two minutes after the restart.

As a result, Leeds head coach Paul Heckingbottom secured only his fourth league victory in 16 matches since taking over from Thomas Christiansen in February, but still managed to guide the West Yorkshire club to 13th position – four points and three places above their opponents.

However, it was former United player Matt Smith who had the first gilt-edged chance of the match but the striker fired off-target, although the assistant referee flagged for offside in any event.

The visitors continued to press by testing young Bailey Peacock-Farrell in the Leeds goal with long balls as Smith’s header was well saved by the 21-year-old.

Josh Scowen let fly from 25 yards but the midfielder was off-target before Smith nodded over the crossbar. However, the hosts eventually got a foothold in the match.

A Leeds corner caused chaos in the QPR penalty area as Pontus Jansson saw a close-range effort blocked before Roofe struck team-mate Caleb Ekuban with the rebound and further strikes from Luke Ayling and Phillips were denied.

Ekuban saw an effort deflect wide before Leeds broke the deadlock in stunning fashion from the resulting corner.

Adam Forshaw’s set-piece was flicked on by Phillips before Roofe rifled in the overhead kick from six yards – for his fourth goal against Rangers this season – and send the Leeds fans wild.

The Whites almost doubled their lead before the break when Tom Pearce fizzed a shot straight at away goalkeeper Joe Lumley, who parried it straight back to the defender to cross for Ezgjan Alioski but he headed wide.

Rangers almost levelled on the stroke of half-time through Darnell Furlong but the full-back’s header could not find the target, and Leeds made the visitors pay for their profligacy after the restart.

Lumley failed to clear his lines and the ball fell kindly at the feet of Phillips before the central midfielder fired into the bottom corner to double the home side’s advantage.

Roofe was close to extending their lead further just after the hour-mark when his curling effort from the edge of the area flew just over the crossbar before he turned provider for Alioski, but he could not convert.

With the two-goal cushion, Heckingbottom brought on 16-year-old academy product Ryan Edmondson for his debut and he nearly marked it with a goal, only to see his strike deflect over.

Ronaldo Vieira saw a long-range effort denied by a great block by Smith, with Alioski nearly catching Lumley out directly from a corner before the Macedonia international blazed a free-kick over as Leeds ran out comfortable winners.