Raphinha took Everton headlines but Leeds United owe much to Jack Harrison in Manchester City loanee's 100th game

The winger is Leeds United’s something borrowed and something blue, in his third season-long loan from Manchester City,

This was his 100th game for the Whites and, for 89 minutes, his level of involvement was astonishing. Yet it was something new that stole the headlines.

Raphinha, operating on the opposite side of the pitch to Harrison, decided the game with a long-range strike, his first for the club and a goal worthy of plaudits and countless replays. It was a breath of fresh air for a side struggling to hit the net from a plethora of chances much closer to goal.

But it owed so much to Harrison.

With 79 minutes gone in a game Leeds should already have had wrapped up, Patrick Bamford pressed to force Jordan Pickford to his left where he had one blue shirt to hit.

Harrison, spotting Pickford’s intentions, rushed up to leave the goalkeeper with no option but to go long.

Robin Koch won the ball from the clearance, Kalvin Phillips played it right, Luke Ayling fed Harrison and he flicked it expertly to Mateusz Klich before drifting inside to take the return pass and send it to the middle where Raphinha controlled and thundered it into the net.

It was a goal of individual brilliance, built on slick team-work and foundations laid by Harrison over two and a bit seasons under Marcelo Bielsa.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said before kick-off. “I’ve been really grateful to play so much and develop so much under Marcelo.”

Harrison also stated the importance of capitalising on the chances Leeds create. This season so far they have made 116, six more than any other Premier League outfit and against Everton, they were at their creative best, with Harrison a central figure throughout.

His first chance, served on a plate by Raphinha, was wasted with a finish that slipped the wrong side of the post. The second saw him beat Pickford but not Mason Holgate on the goalline. The third he headed past Pickford and onto the post.

On another day he would have walked off with the match ball. As it was, he hobbled off with a minute of regulation time left, having put everything, bar a goal, into his performance.

Starting as part of a three-man left-wing posse in front of Stuart Dallas and Gjanni Alioski, he helped smother Tom Davies and give Leeds numerical superiority on that side.

It wasn’t until he swapped with Raphinha on 20 minutes that he began to turn the screw offensively on stand-in left wing-back Alex Iwobi.

Kalvin Phillips’s first thought when he picks up possession is most often ‘give it to Pablo’ but in Hernandez’s absence he settled into a rhythm of pinging it over Iwobi to Harrison, whose blindside darts unbalanced Everton and kept Leeds on the front foot, attack proving the best form of defence.

Dallas took up the challenge of finding Harrison in behind, with the first of two identical cross-field balls leading to a penalty shout for handball and the second Harrison’s header against the woodwork.

Leeds went right time and time again, Harrison linking up simply and effectively with Ayling and Klich to pass it around the hosts. But the plan wasn’t rigid – an early second-half counter-attack saw him cut across the middle to give Raphinha an option on the left, then two minutes later he was back on the right, dragging Iwobi inside to leave Ayling one on one with Richarlison, before a one-two gave Klich a chance.

Fabian Delph came on and Iwobi was moved to the right, only for Harrison to follow and link up with Alioski to take the wing-back out of the equation until he was rescued by Carlo Ancelotti and replaced by André Gomes.

The Toffees boss said the heavy workload of a wing-back necessitated those changes, but Harrison, back on the right-wing, showed no signs of fatigue as he moved inside and out, toiling to make himself an option.

Raphinha made way for Ian Poveda so Harrison swapped flanks again and, tracking back to help protect the lead, threw himself into a vital challenge to halt Ben Godfrey’s dangerous run.

That tackle left him limping and, in the game’s final minute, he left the pitch, not with the headlines or the match ball but with his job done and done well.