Preston 0 Leeds United 2 - Phil Hay's verdict: Patrick Bamford asks Sheffield United the question as promotion race is reignited

Marcelo Bielsa must have done the maths and the consequences of anything less than a win in Preston last night were too real and dangerous for him to ignore.
Leeds United and Patrick Bamford celebrate at Deepdale.Leeds United and Patrick Bamford celebrate at Deepdale.
Leeds United and Patrick Bamford celebrate at Deepdale.

It was win-or-cross-everything for Leeds United at Deepdale and a 2-0 victory left as little as possible to chance in the days ahead.

The Championship is full of ifs and buts and might stay that way until the last ball is kicked but Sheffield United play twice before their city neighbours, Sheffield Wednesday, turn out in Leeds this weekend and the worse case scenario for Bielsa was a seven-point lead in the hands of the Blades by the time that game kicked off.

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The stakes were through the roof in that respect and Leeds stood up to them, helped by the reckless streak in Preston North End midfielder Ben Pearson and two classy goals from the maligned Patrick Bamford. Bielsa’s players had been backing Preston up before Pearson’s addiction to cards surfaced again with his dismissal in the 50th minute but the midfielder’s professional foul on Bamford invited wave after wave of attacks which broke North End in no time.

Bamford has been the villain or the piece at Leeds for the past few weeks, condemned for performances which failed to tally with his £7m transfer fee, but his strikes at Deepdale redeemed so much; one a searing volley after Preston gave possession away once too often and the second an emphatic header which wrapped things up. Preston were liable to crack anyway with Pearson in the doghouse and their second half was a desperate, hopeless affair.

For Bielsa it was perfect; a result which required Sheffield United to respond in kind at Birmingham City tonight.

Second place will return to Chris Wilder’s side if they hold their nerve at St Andrews but Leeds were in danger of falling back after losing to Birmingham on Saturday and a ruthless evening at Deepdale stemmed the threat of defeatism. Bamford’s finishing did likewise, a few days on from an afternoon of toil in the West Midlands, and Bielsa was spared the job of justifying his inclusion afterwards.

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This was no time for Bamford to struggle for form and no time for Bielsa to lose Pablo Hernandez to injury either but Leeds patched Hernandez up over the weekend, tending the bruised ankle he suffered at St Andrews, and cleared him to play.

Bielsa needed the midfielder at his unmanageable best and Leeds were well advised before kick-off not to let down the crowd of 5,500 who crammed into the away stand but it was Bamford who gave them satisfaction in the end.

Spare tickets are almost non-existent these days with the fear of missing out now very real, in more ways than one. Bielsa could see that anything less than a win at Deepdale would bring the play-offs closer into view, to the depression of everyone.

Preston, conversely, wanted the play-offs to be more visible and there has been no let-up for Leeds in their fixture list; no games against clubs whose seasons are already done, which Preston’s is not. There was zip to the game at Deepdale but unavoidable anxiety too and an opening which was lively but tight.

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The early chances traded were fleeting but useful: Tyler Roberts trying to smash a shot from an angle through an impossibly tight crowd of players and Patrick Bamford side-footing a chance a yard over the crossbar.

Bamford’s finishing at Birmingham placed him in the stocks but it would have taken the finest of touches to steer a cut-back from Mateusz Klich into the top corner.

Preston’s nibbles were less convincing, comprising of an effort from Lukas Nmecha which sank into Kiko Casilla’s side-netting, and an open field was what Bielsa was looking for, four days on from a congested mess at St Andrews. Leeds worked the space with energy but struggled to stretch Preston goalkeeper Declan Rudd.

Hernandez fired over with his weaker left foot from the edge of the box and Klich’s hooked finish from inside the area beat the far post by a whisker. Again, Bielsa crouched intently on the touchline looking for the pressure to yield a goal.

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It refused to come before half-time, despite Leeds penning North End in, but Preston’s inability to return fire suggested the night was going one way. There was no doubt at all when Pearson - booked for a rash foul on Jack Harrison in the first half - pulled down Bamford five minutes into the second as the striker sprinted onto a high ball over the top. Pearson was condemned to a red card one way or the other and referee Robert Jones showed him it straight, the midfielder’s third of the season.

Preston felt the heat immediately and Kalvin Phillips and Bamford made Rudd twitch before Bamford, whose movement and strength had done him more credit, sized up Preston goal and hammered a loose ball beyond the reach of Rudd from 20 minutes.

The striker casually cupped an ear as he slid in front of the away end, a little nod to the criticism he could not have avoided hearing.

From there it was a case of by how many. Luke Ayling rattled the base of post after Preston were opened up on the right and Preston’s defence was nowhere in the 76th minute when Klich’s cross drew a nonchalant header from Bamford, directed into the top corner.

The forward should have completed a hat-trick in injury-time when Ben Davies dispossessed him as Bamford shaped to shoot but the chance was immaterial.

Game over, and over to Sheffield United.