Leeds United’s long march out of the wilderness is over. The last lap of an often gruelling and sometimes downright painful journey into the Premier League proved joyous and unexpectedly straightforward, the only frustration being a slight delay to the start of the formal celebrations.
It was occasioned by the need to wait for the final score from Turf Moor, where Burnley beat Sheffield United to join Leeds in the top tier while consigning Chris Wilder’s side to the playoffs.
Not even heavy rain and a marked dip in the Easter temperature could dampen the euphoria inside Elland Road as Joël Piroe registered a hat-trick inside the first 20 minutes. By half-time Farke’s centre-forward had scored four times and Stoke were sunk well below the waterline.
“I might have wanted a seventh goal but, apart from that, there’s not much more I could have asked for,” Farke said. “To deliver such an emphatic performance with feet on the gas all the time was amazing. The spirit and tenacity we’ve shown in recent weeks has been incredible.”
Farke has now orchestrated a third promotion in a managerial career during which he has twice led Norwich into football’s promised land. “This is a priceless three points. It was one of the best days; the atmosphere was electric. The players are tired but feeling the joy. The dressing room’s buzzing.”
The demolition of Stoke started with a neat first-time Piroe finish after Manor Solomon’s flick. It continued when the Dutchman, cued up by the excellent Jayden Bogle, found time to switch the ball from his left to right foot before, again, shooting low beyond Viktor Johansson.
Only eight minutes had passed and Leeds fans needed to wait another 12 before Piroe used his left foot to lash the ball into the roof of the net from close range after Johansson could only parry Wilfried’s Gnonto’s sliced shot.
Piroe has his critics in West Yorkshire and there had been a bit of a clamour for Patrick Bamford to start ahead of him in the central striking role here but the doubters were being confounded. “Joël had a dry spell, a bit of a dip recently but, to his credit, he has got himself out of it,” Farke said. “He’s proven priceless for us this season but, for a striker, goals are like a bottle of ketchup; it all comes out at once.”
Stoke’s defence looked more like a chocolate Easter egg that had begun to melt after being too close to a radiator for too long. That backline turned to liquid long before Junior Firpo turned the fourth goal over the line after connecting with Bogle’s cross.
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By now the chants of “Leeds are going up” were so loud it was possible to imagine the echoes resounding on the other side of the Pennines. That decibel count increased as Bogle’s angled shot hit a post and Piroe’s bundled close-range finish lifted his season’s goal tally to 19.
If it was most definitely Piroe’s party, Stoke were extremely unwilling guests. Slips were always possible on the slick, wet playing surface but Mark Robins’ players frequently looked so off-balance they might have been have been playing on sheet ice.
Visiting stability improved slightly in the second half after a flurry of substitutions and a switch to five at the back but was soon undermined further as Gnonto met Solomon’s fine cross and headed the sixth goal.
If the sight of Piroe being substituted might normally have offered Robins reason for relief the sight of Bamford running on to replace him and Ao Tanaka and Ilia Gruev continuing to dictate central midfield while Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu formed an impenetrable central defensive barrier can hardly have prompted reassurance.
Tellingly, Farke was so relaxed that he was able to offer Eddie Gray’s grandson, the extremely promising 16-year-old Harry Gray, a late debut from the bench.
To say Robins was unimpressed by the events unfolding in front of him is an understatement. “It was a game we didn’t take part in,” he said. “We didn’t lay a glove on Leeds. They’re the best team in the Championship with the most talented group of players without a shadow of a doubt. They 100% deserve promotion.”
