Credit: Imago

Josh Edwards

Sat 7 March 2026 12:30, UK

Luke O’Nien was blown away by the atmosphere created by Leeds United fans despite their defeat to Sunderland.

Tuesday’s encounter at Elland Road was a controversial one, with Habib Diarra’s penalty proving to be the difference for the Black Cats in a 1-0 win.

It was a missed opportunity for Leeds, given the number of injuries that Regis Le Bris’ side had to contend with, with O’Nien one of those asked to step in in the absence of Nordi Mukiele.

The 31-year-old was named as TNT’s Player of the Match for Sunderland’s win away at Leeds, and yet he still had nothing but good things to say about the atmosphere he played in.

What did Luke O’Nien say about Leeds United fans?

It’s fair to say that Leeds fans were enraged by O’Nien’s antics throughout the game, with the Sunderland defender actually booked for attempting to stop an attack by kicking a second ball towards the one that was in play.

All that did was rile up the home support, who, despite their best efforts of spurring their team on, had to watch as their side suffered defeat under the lights at Elland Road for the first time in 23 games.

Elland Road’s atmosphere has been the 12th man in many Premier League encounters this season, and O’Nien was keen to reiterate that stance as an opposition player.

Via talkSPORT, he said: “The Leeds atmosphere the other day was special because, I think that the Premier League’s been incredible, but the atmosphere hasn’t quite matched the level, I’d like to say.

“When you go to a place like Leeds – the game, what it is, it’s special.”

And while that may not have been enough to deter the Black Cats from taking all three points on the night, it may be enough to prevent the Whites from dropping back into the Championship.

Who else do Leeds have to play at home?

With 31 points from 29 games, there’s certainly a case to be made that nine points will be enough to secure their spot in the Premier League for another campaign.

And when looking at their remaining fixtures at Elland Road, Leeds should have no issues with reaching that tally.

Leeds still have home encounters with Brentford, Wolves, Burnley and Brighton, with at least one of those due to be played under the lights.

There are 12 points up for grabs from those four encounters alone, meaning that the Whites may only need to win three of them to achieve their goal of survival.

What will give them even more hope is that Burnley and Wolves have the worst away record in the league, while Brighton have also only avoided defeat in half of their away encounters this season.