Daniel Farke ‘makes gesture to official’ in unseen Leeds v Millwall moment
Leeds United restored their winning note with victory on Wednesday night, with another three points now up for grabs before the international break.
A mini-hoodoo against Millwall was brought to an end with a 2-0 win over the Lions at Elland Road (12 March), and Daniel Farke will have breathed a huge sigh of relief as his team sit two points clear at the Championship summit.
The win was also notable for a number of unseen moments, including one exchange between Farke and one of the officials that many failed to spot.
Farke gestures at official in win v Millwall
With some Leeds supporters baffled by the referee’s reluctance to give any cards at Elland Road in midweek, plenty of fouls went unpunished with players on both sides getting away without cautions.
Farke’s personal exchange came with the fourth official from his technical area, as pointed out by Graham Smyth of the Yorkshire Evening Post [13 March].
According to Smyth, Farke “engaged in an animated debate the merits of the offside rule” with James Bell, who was on fourth official duties and the acting peacemaker between the two dugouts.
The German did this by gesturing an imaginary flag, appealing a potential offside call as the visitors launched forward in attack, ultimately in vain as Ao Tanaka sealed the contest late on for Leeds.
Fourth officials often have an unenviable job taking the direct brunt from managers for various refereeing calls – especially when they may disagree deep down with their fellow officials.
Leeds must end Loftus Road rut v QPR
Leeds have one hurdle standing between them and the international break, with QPR playing host at Loftus Road on Saturday (15 March).
The Whites have lost each of their last four visits to West London taking on the Hoops, who were 4-0 winners over Farke’s side at a crucial point of last season, going some way to knocking Leeds into the play-offs.
The home team has won each of the last nine meetings between the two teams, but Leeds must end that run as they have essentially played one of their lives with the defeat at Portsmouth on 9 March while their promotion rivals all won.
| POS | Championship table 2024-25 | PLD | PTS | GD |
| 1 | LEEDS UNITED | 37 | 79 | +51 |
| 2 | Sheffield United | 37 | 77 | +24 |
| 3 | Burnley | 37 | 75 | +39 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 37 | 69 | +21 |
Farke will be glad that his squad appeared to get through the Millwall match unscathed in terms of injuries – a welcome boost given this will now be his side’s third Championship contest in the space of six days.
If they can get past the hurdle of QPR, Leeds’ position will certainly be a beneficial one at the top of the tree for the run-in when the squad are back together after the internationals.