‘Humongous’ – Jermaine Beckford blown away by ‘masterclass’ from Leeds ace v Stoke
Jermaine Beckford has hailed Leeds United playmaker Pablo Hernandez for his “masterclass” performance against Stoke City on Thursday evening.
The Whites ran out 5-0 winners with a stunning performance that catapulted them back to the top of the Championship and kept them six points clear of the play-offs with four matches to go.
Hernandez started the game on the bench, but produced a goal and an assist when he was introduced by Marcelo Bielsa.
And Beckford was blown away by what he saw from the veteran Spaniard.
Speaking on Sky Sports‘ coverage of the match (Sky Sports Football, July 9th, 4.30pm), he said: “Hernandez, when he came on, made a humongous difference.
“He was involved in a lot of the goals.
Not only did he score, but he had an assist, and he was involved in the other goals too.
“Another masterclass from Pablo Hernandez and from Marcelo Bielsa, in my opinion.”
This was a stunning display from Hernandez, but would we really expect anything less from the playmaker?
The 35-year-old is an absolute wizard, and his vision and poise on the ball is simply breathtaking at times.
Over the course of 45 minutes, he registered three key passes and a match rating of 8.35, as per Whoscored.
As a point of comparison, Tyler Roberts made one and had a match rating of 6.60.
Hernandez was once again the game changer, and his genius cannot be underestimated.
We have seen on more than one occasion during this Championship run-in just how important his influence is for the Whites, and after yet another stunning display, our only wish is that the little magician could go on playing at Elland Road forever.
In other Leeds United news, Slaven Bilic agrees with Leeds fans on Sky Sports.