A late fine of new signature Lukas Nmecha earned promoted Leeds United a hard-fought 1-0 win over Everton in his first game back in the Premier League on Monday evening.
Leeds dominated the first half for a raw Elland Road, but wasted a large number of opportunities to break the impasse. Everton, on the other hand, did not collect any shot in the opening period, on or outside target.
The visitor brought Jack Grealisk when he improved after the break, but the handball of James Tarkowski gave the hosts the opportunity to take the victory for six minutes of time.
Nmecha, a free transfer prior to the new campaign, got off the bank to emphatically convert the place, so that Leeds was back in the top flight after an absence of two years, got its season at the perfect start.
«On the field it felt like a penalty right now, maybe it was also a bit emotional with the roar of the stadium,» said Leeds Baas Daniel Farke.
«The first two or three touches of Lukas were not perfect – I was a bit worried because he was normally an excellent penal person. I thought about it if I had to tell him today that it might not be the day to take a penalty. Thank good I did not get in. He was ice cold and calm,» he added.
In the past two seasons, the three teams that came out of the championship have immediately went down again, but the performance of Monday showed Leeds as a team that could take the trend.
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Joel Piroe brought a nice early savings from Everton -goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, with the Dutch striker and then went close to a open in the first half while the road ran.
It took until eight minutes in the second half before the visitor achieved a shot at the goal, Idrissa Gueye hammered an attempt well over the top.
While Everton seemed more like a threat after the arrival of 100 million pounds Vooruit Grealiskh, who is on loan from Manchester City, there was still a lead.
Leeds was given the goal that justified his efforts, even if Everton felt awarded the criminal decision.
«It’s not a penalty,» said Everton coach David Moyes.
«We didn’t play well enough at night, but the great frustration is that the referees actually had a poor opening weekend. I just don’t know what the rules should be,» he added.
After the victory of Sunderland on Saturday, the success of Leeds means that for the third time in the history of Premier League two promoted parties have won in the opening round of competitions.
