Sheffield United v Leeds United: Championship – live

21 min Better from Leeds. Firpo combines well with Solomon and slides a low cross that is well cut out at the near post, I think by Robinson.

19 min Rak-Sakyi plays a smart square pass to Brereton Diaz, whose fierce first-time shot from 20 yards is blocked. Sheffield United are all over Leeds like a cheap cliche.

18 min Another long throw isn’t dealt with convincingly by Meslier, who is being targetted by Sheffield United. This is a big 10 minutes for him and Leeds.

16 min Almost a second for Sheffield United, with a terrific cross from Burrows (I think) flashing right across the face of goal.

I thought Tyrese Campbell had scored but in fact it’s an own goal from Illan Meslier. Brereton Diaz curled a sensational inswinging cross from the left that was met by O’Hare at the near post. His header was pushed onto the underside bar by Meslier, a quite brilliant reaction save, but Leeds couldn’t get the ball away.

Campbell headed the rebound onto the post, a bad miss in truth, and then headed the second rebound back across the goalline. Meslier, who was sliding desperately towards his own goal after making that original save, couldn’t slow his momentum and knocked the ball into his own net. I think Meslier might have slipped as well.

GOAL! Sheff Utd 1-0 Leeds (Meslier og 14)

10 min “As a Leeds fan,” says Ezra Finkelstein, “I’m white-knuckling my way through this game which feels like it could make or break our promotion charge.”

I’m not sure, as a neutral, that it’s quite that important. But then if I was a Leeds (or Sheff Utd) fan I’d have the whitest knuckles in the west.

9 min: Off the line by Gruev! Meslier is looking vulnerable on set-pieces. He paws Peck’s corner back towards his own goal – he thought he was fouled, the referee disagreed – and Gruev did brilliantly to stoop forward and head the ball off the line.

8 min A long throw from the left is spilled by Meslier, who is very relieved to dive on the loose ball before any Sheffield United player can get to it.

5 min Plenty of boos as Bogle, who left Sheffield United last summer, has his first run down the right for Leeds. To the surprise of precisely nobody, it’s been a frantic start.

3 min Struijk and Campbell stay down for a bit after an unpleasant but entirely accidental collision. They’re on their feet now.

2 min A wayward shot from Vini Souza is collected near the corner flag by Rak-Sakyi. He hits a tremendous inswinging cross that just clears the man at the near post and is headed away.

1 min Leeds, in yellow, kick off from left to right as we watch. Their manager Daniel Farke is banned from the touchline tonight after picking up another booking last Monday.

Apologies, I’ve been sidetracked with some research into the Campeonato Carioca of 1977. The players are ready for action, and the atmosphere is spectacular.

Jonathan Wilson on the promotion race

You don’t have to spend too much time at a Championship ground to hear the opinion that promotion isn’t worth the hassle, that the euphoria of the moment would soon be replaced by the gloom of habitual defeat. That’s true even at Leeds, who are playing with real verve and confidence at the moment. They haven’t lost in the league since the end of November. They’ve conceded only once in their last seven league games. Last Monday, they came from behind to beat Sunderland with a great pulsating finish, wave after wave of relentless attack eventually leading to a 95th-minute winner. On Monday they go to second-placed Sheffield United: win that and they will be five points clear at the top of the Championship.

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