Leeds United 2 v Derby County 4 - Agg 3-4 - EFL Championship - Play Off Semi Final 2nd Leg

Wednesday 15th May 2019
SkyBet EFL Championship - Play Off Semi Final 2nd Leg
at Elland Road
Leeds United (1) 2
Stuart Dallas 24, 62
Derby County (1) 4
Jack Marriott 45, 85,
Mason Mount 46,
Harry Wilson 58 pen
Attendance; 36, 326

Leeds United:
Casilla, Ayling, Berardi, Cooper (C), Dallas; Philips; Hernandez, Shackleton, Klich Harrison; Bamford
Unused Subs - Peacock-Farrell, Jannsson, Brown, Clarke, Struijk, Gotts, Bogusz
Derby County:
Roos, Bogle, Keogh (C), Tomori, Malone; Holmes (Marriott, 44), Johnson, Mount; Wilson; Bennett (Huddlestone, 59), Lawrence
Unused subs - Carson, Jozefzoon, Evans, Cole, Knight

Wow! Just wow!

And so it came to pass, that Frank Lampard did have a plan B all along after all.

The Rams deployed a 4-4-2 formation, with a midfield diamond, and though it took a while for them to get into top gear, once they had, there was no stopping them.

Having already beaten Derby three times this season, Leeds looked to have taken a massive stride towards Wembley Stadium, when Stuart Dallas slotted home a rebound, to put the hosts 1-0 ahead on the night, and 2-0 on aggregate, in the twenty fourth minute, after Liam Cooper had headed Kalvin Phillips' free kick against the right hand upright.
Both teams hit the woodwork as a lively first half progressed, but even though it was a high tempo game, as of yet, there wasn't any kind of hint pertaining to the drama that was about to unfold.

Photo usurped from t'internet... I didn't take any tonight.

With the clock ticking down towards half time inside the cauldron of noise that is Elland Road, Lampard made a switch, bringing Jack Mitchell on in place of Duane Holmes and the former Peterborough man had only been on the pitch thirty three seconds, when he chased a flick on by Mason Bennett towards the Leeds area and the ball fell to his feet, after Cooper collided with his own keeper Kiko Casilla as they both attempted to make a clearance, a minute before half time.

And then a minute after the restart, Derby were ahead on the night (and level on aggregate), when Harry Wilson set up Mason Mount for an emphatic finish. Game on!

Within a minute, Casilla did well to save from Mount, showing the flip-side of his unorthodox approach to the game. The Spanish keeper certainly takes the old adage that 'all goalkeepers are mad' to new extremes at times, when he appears to take on the mantle of a frustrated midfield play-maker.

Dallas went close with a curling effort, that was pushed away which by Roos and when Hernandez reached the loose ball first, his effort was blocked.

Once again, Dallas wasn't far away from finding the net, when he volleyed over the bar... but as paly switched to the other end of the pitch, Derby were awarded a penalty, when Bennett was tripped by Cooper... and Wilson buried the resulting spot kick. Advantage Derby, 3-1 up on the night and 3-2 ahead overall.

And to think... this used to be the Leeds v Derby game that everyone always talked about.

Just after the hour mark, the aggregate score was level again, when Dallas left two opponents for dead before rifling a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Luke Ayling went close twice for Leeds, but the home side were then reduced to ten men, when Gaetano Berardi was dismissed for a second yellow card offence, when he fouled Brad Johnson.
Wilson hit the post as Derby tried to force the issue, and then, with just five minutes remaining Marriott scored again, when he chipped Casilla, to inflict Leeds with the hammer blow that was about to condemn them to a sixteenth consecutive season outside the top flight... and send the Rams through to the SkyBet EFL Championship Final against Aston Villa on Monday 27th May,
Dallas almost forced the game into extra time, but he was thwarted by Roos. And in spite of the late  dismissal of Scott Malone, 'Frank Lampard's Derby' saw the game out, to claim a quite breath-taking victory.
FT: Leeds United 2 v Derby County 4 (Agg 3-4)