There was a seventh consecutive win for Leeds United last night in the Sky Bet Championship, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side beating Hull City 2-0 at Elland Road to move back to the top of the table.  

Leeds had the own-goal of Jordy de Wijs to thank for breaking the deadlock on 73 minutes, before a blistering counterattack brought the second goal through Ezgjan Alioski.

However, for the 73 minutes that went before de Wijs turned the ball beyond George Long, this was anyone’s game, with Hull carrying plenty of threat through Jarrod Bowen, Kamil Grosicki and Tom Eaves.

Bielsa’s side got the job done though in the final 20 minutes, moving Leeds back to the top of the table for 24 hours at least, with West Brom back in action this evening at Wigan.

Here, we break down what we learnt about Leeds in their win over Hull…

Kiko Casilla’s continued class

 

Last season’s play-off semi-final defeat to Derby County was a horror-show for Leeds, which stemmed from Casilla colliding with Liam Cooper to allow Jack Marriott to roll the ball into an empty net.

The finger of blame was pointed at Casilla, with the goalkeeper’s long-term future at Elland Road in serious question.

Fast-forward to December 11th and Casilla is the Championship’s best goalkeeper, with 12 clean sheets in 21 appearances.

Last night against Hull he produced two key saves from Tom Eaves, with the second coming just seconds before Alioski’s goal.

Casilla commanded his area well too, producing the type of classy performance that Elland Road is becoming familiar with.

Bielsa’s selection pays off

 

Kalvin Phillips was always going to be recalled to the starting line-up after missing the win over Huddersfield Town through suspension, with it looking like one of three would be dropped for the midfielder.

Stuart Dallas, Gaetano Berardi and Ezgjan Alioski were the obvious choices, with the latter making way for Phillips’ return.

And, this selection call from Bielsa paid off, with Dallas producing an excellent one-on-one defensive display on 14-goal Bowen and Berardi battling hard to come out on top against Eaves.

Yes, both could have been better with the ball (particularly Dallas), but defensively, they helped to stifle a strong Hull attacking unit.

In addition to that, Alioski’s freshness from the bench helped him support the attack and score a crucial second goal.

Bielsa will have been delighted.

Patience of this side is key

 

Leeds don’t blow teams away in the Championship, with the mauling of Middlesbrough on November 30 an exception.

But what we are beginning to see is a side that has incredible patience, who hold an opponent at one end whilst chipping away at the other.

Last night was another case of that, and on 73 minutes, Leeds banged down the Hull door before slamming it shut behind them on 82.

There was never any panic amongst Leeds' ranks, they just did what they always seem to do, with these second-half goals becoming a regular occurrence.