Carla Devine

Fri 11 April 2025 19:10, UK

Leeds returned to the top of the Championship table this week after a 1-0 victory against Middlesbrough on Tuesday.

A recent dip in form had seen Daniel Farke’s men drop to third in the table, falling away out of the automatic promotion spots.

However, their victory at the Riverside Stadium while Sheffield United and Burnley dropped points put the Whites back on track.

Victory against Middlesbrough did not come without its controversy though and Farke is keen to make sure his side doesn’t fall victim again.

Farke acts after decisions against Leeds

Coming away with all three points against Middlesbrough was the main thing for Leeds as it bumped them back to the top of the table.

However, the result ended up being a lot closer than Farke would have liked it to be and closer than it needed to be.

Both Ao Tanaka and Patrick Bamford had the ball in the back of the net during the game and both goals were ruled as offside.

Dan James had already put Leeds one up but assistant referee Darren Williams ruled the next two goals as being offside.

The consensus is that the disallowed goals were both unfair and while one mistake maybe could have been forgiven, two definitely couldn’t.

In his pre-match press conference, Farke revealed that he had a phone call with PGMOL official Kevin Friend about the decisions that disallowed his side’s goals.

The boss said: “I won’t talk about it in public, because that would be a lack of class.

“I hope for good performances from my players and he hopes for good performance for [his staff.]”

In the announcement of officials for the weekend, Williams has seemingly been dropped to League One for the next round of fixtures after his blunder against Leeds.

Leeds have to get back on track

You can understand Farke’s frustration with the decisions that disallowed two goals for his side and on a different evening, that could have been season-defining for the Whites.

That being said, Leeds did come away with all three points and now they must turn their attention to a game against Preston North End at Elland Road on Saturday (12 April).

It’s an early kick-off for the Whites which have not been the most kind to Farke’s men throughout the campaign so they will have to be on the top of their game.

Having previously lost their lead at the top of the table, the West Yorkshire outfit will be well aware that there is no room for error now.

Sitting level on points with Burnley and just two ahead of the Blades, the race for automatic promotion could easily change this weekend and again before the end of the season.