Leeds United bounced back to winning ways in the Championship with a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff City in Wales on Saturday.
The Whites needed a strong response to their 1-0 defeat to Burnley and that is exactly what they provided with an excellent performance this weekend.
Daniel Farke’s side enjoyed a staggering 79% of the ball and racked up 2.74 xG, creating five ‘big chances’ in total, which suggests that they were, perhaps, unfortunate to only score twice.
Largie Ramazani opened the scoring for Leeds in the 30th minute, just seven minutes after Joel Bagan was sent off, and Joel Piroe came off the bench to score the second goal in the 87th minute.
Farke did “storm down the tunnel” with his side 1-0 up at the break, possibly due to his team not making the most of more of the opportunities that they created against ten-man Cardiff.
However, the German head coach will surely have left Wales content with how Ramazani performed on his full debut for the club on the wing.
Largie Ramazani's performance in numbers
The 23-year-old forward was snapped up from Spanish side Almeria in the summer transfer window and came into the starting XI on Saturday to replace the injured Manor Solomon.
It was a big chance for him to make his mark and make a name for himself in front of the away following, which is exactly what he did in the 30th minute.
Mateo Joseph smartly knocked a through ball onto the winger and that sent him racing towards goal, before firing a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner.
However, the Belgian gem missed a huge chance to double his tally for the afternoon just minutes later. Wilfried Gnonto played a sublime ball across the box to Ramazani in front of goal, unchallenged, from ten yards out and his shot came straight back off the goalkeeper.
The ex-Almeria star did leave a bit to be desired from his physical work during the game. He lost three of his four duels on the ground and all three of his aerial contests, which shows that the Cardiff defenders found it too easy to outmuscle him.
Ramazani also ended the match with one chance created and zero ‘big chances’ created and this suggests that he needs to work on his ability to make things happen for his teammates if he wants to nail down a starting position on the left wing on a regular basis.
The summer signing was not the real hero of the match for Farke, though, as defensive midfielder Ethan Ampadu controlled the game with his performance in Wales.
Ethan Ampadu's performance in numbers
The Leeds captain lined up in the middle of the park next to Ilia Gruev and produced an outstanding display to help his side dominate the match.
Of course, the red card for Bagan after 23 minutes, for fouling Gnonto as the last man, helped the Whites to hold the bulk of the possession, playing against ten men, but Ampadu’s dominant performance also played a big part.
The Wales international won eight of his 11 duels throughout the game to constantly cut out opposition attacks and to win the midfield battle for his side.
This allowed Leeds to keep hold of possession when the game got scrappy, because Ampadu used his immense physicality to come out on top in the majority of his duels, and this created a platform for the attacking players to push on and thrive.
He also made three tackles and interceptions combined to stop the Welsh outfit from testing Illan Meslier between the sticks, as the Whites kept a clean sheet.
Touches
106
Pass accuracy
88% (81/92)
Long pass accuracy
75% (3/4)
Ground duel success rate
100% (3/3)
Tackles + interceptions
3
As you can see in the table above, Ampadu was also impressive in possession with a pass completion rate of 88% from his 106 touches of the ball.
This shows that the Welsh titan was composed and reliable on the ball for Leeds in the middle of the park, which prevented constant turnovers and meant that Cardiff did not have too many chances to get back into the game by regaining the ball through loose passes.
Therefore, Ampadu was the real hero for Farke on Saturday because he produced a fantastic all-round performance in the middle of the park, with his quality in and out of possession crucial to their dominance in the match.
Ethan Ampadu's season in numbers
The former Chelsea man, who arrived from the Premier League side in the summer of 2023, has enjoyed a terrific start to the 2024/25 campaign in the Championship.
Starting every single game of the season in the defensive midfield role, he has been pivotal to their return of four clean sheets in six league matches.
After six games, the 24-year-old star ranks within the top 2% of midfielders in the Championship for aerial battles won per 90 (2.09) and the top 20% for tackles won per 90 (2.96), which shows that he has been one of the standout defensive talents in his position this term.
Appearances
6
Pass accuracy
88%
Tackles + interceptions per game
3.8
Ball recoveries per game
4.5
Ground duel success rate
70%
Aerial duel success rate
71%
As you can see in the table above, Ampadu has been reliable in possession and dominant off the ball, which was the case once again against Cardiff on Saturday.
His duel success rate of 70%, including battles on the ground and in the air, shows that opposition players find it incredibly difficult to get the better of him in the middle battle, which allows him to control that crucial area of the pitch for Leeds.
Farke will now be hoping that his captain, who has started every league game under him since the start of last season, can keep up this sublime form for the rest of the campaign to boost their promotion hopes.
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