Joe Rodon and Max Wöber stepped out of defence to score their first goals for Leeds as they inched to the top of the Championship, ahead of Sheffield United on goal difference.
Given that the goalkeeper, Illan Meslier, was so underemployed he appeared in real danger of hypothermia, it is probably safe to assume that Tuesday’s home engagement with promotion rival in Middlesbrough will be somewhat tougher. No matter Leeds, and their excellent Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka in particular, did enough to suggest they should most certainly not be underestimated.
“We were all over Derby,” said Daniel Farke, the Leeds manager, deploying considerable understatement. “We should have scored more but I’m pretty happy. It was a dominant performance.”
At times the wind was so strong it threatened to bend the corner flags permanently out of shape. Throw in additional periods of driving rain and it was perhaps not entirely surprising that Leeds’s final ball initially kept letting them down.
Regis Le Bris described Tom Watson as a “gift” after the winger starred for Sunderland and scored both goals in their 2-1 Championship victory over Stoke. Making only his fifth Championship start for the Black Cats, the 18-year-old cancelled out Lewis Koumas’ early opener before firing a deserved late winner for the promotion hopefuls.
The victory brought Sunderland’s six-game winless run to an end, leaving them two points behind leaders Leeds. Le Bris said he was thrilled with how quickly and impressively Watson is developing. “He’s a very good winger in this league: he’s powerful, he can dribble, move inside and outside and he scored. He was very strong.”
Teenage forward Rayan Kolli scored twice as QPR beat Norwich 3-0 to finally seal their first home win of the season and climb out of the relegation zone. Jimmy Dunne gave Rangers the lead before 19-year-old Kolli, on as an early substitute for the injured Zan Celar, scored his first senior goals to seal a fine win for the west London side.
New manager Rubén Sellés watched from the stand as Hull crashed to their sixth straight defeat against Blackburn. An own goal from Tigers defender Sean McLoughlin in the 20th minute made the difference and sent Rovers back into the play-off zone on the back of their fourth straight win.
Ephron Mason-Clark struck the only goal as Coventry picked up their first victory under Frank Lampard (right) with a deserved 1-0 win at Millwall. It ended a run of five games without a win for the Sky Blues and lifted them four points clear of the relegation zone. Millwall were without Romain Esse and Josh Coburn and could not pose enough of an attacking threat as their nine-match unbeaten run ended Colby Bishop scored one and set up another as Portsmouth comfortably beat Bristol City 3-0 to rise off the bottom of the table. Bishop, who returned from heart surgery a month ago, opened the scoring in the first half, before slipping in Josh Murphy after the break. Callum Lang put a cherry on top of the result with a close-range finish as Pompey secured their third win of the season.
Matt Grimes struck on the hour to secure a deserved point for Swansea at Luton, who had taken the lead agaisnt the run of play through Elijah Adebayo.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl said his side’s 1-1 draw with Preston felt like a defeat. Michael Smith’s second-half equaliser cancelled out Emil Riis’ opener as North End’s search for a first league away win of the season continues. Rohl said: “We deserved to be losing. I take this as a loss. This is not the type of performance I want to see.”
By way of further mitigation Derby’s five-man defence and low block hardly made things straightforward for Leeds as they struggled to translate protracted periods of possession into material advantage.
If set pieces offered the hope of breaking the impasse, Rodon was left with head in hands after heading wide having found himself in space from a corner.
Undeterred, the centre-back soon redeemed himself by sending an infinitely more difficult headed chance powering past Jacob Widell Zetterström after beating Kane Wilson to Joe Rothwell’s corner.
Seconds earlier Zetterström, who touched but could not hold Rodon’s opener, had done well to push Brenden Aaronson’s low shot away for that set play but his teammates were then chasing a game that threatened to accelerate away from them.
It did not help that Leeds’s smart pressing and positioning generally ensured that, on the rare occasions Derby escaped their own half, they were forced into optimistic long balls of the sort that guaranteed Meslier such a quiet afternoon.
Wrexham climbed level on points with leaders Wycombe after a 1-0 win at struggling Burton.
Elliot Lee's second-half effort secured Wrexham a fourth straight league win and they sit behind leaders Wycombe on goal difference after the Chairboys were held 1-1 at home by Reading. Harvey Knibbs fired Reading's first-half equaliser after Beryly Lubala had given Wycombe the lead.
Birmingham remain one point adrift of the top two following a 2-1 win at 10-man Barnsley. Paik Seung-Ho's own goal gave Barnsley a second-half lead before Jay Stansfield struck twice for Blues, either side of Adam Phillips' dismissal for two yellow-card offences.
Huddersfield maintained their promotion push, notching their fourth straight league win with a 2-1 victory at Mansfield, where Josh Koroma fired a first-half winner.
Stockport climbed up to fifth after Tristan Crama's own goal and Louie Barry's late penalty earned them a 2-0 home win against Exeter.
Lincoln were held 0-0 at home by Charlton and Leyton Orient made it back-to-back wins thanks to goals from Jayden Sweeney and Diallang Jaiyesimi in a 2-0 success at Wigan.
Cambridge registered their first league win in six matches as they defeated Shrewsbury 4-1 at home. Games at Blackpool, Bristol Rovers and Crawley were all postponed due to the weather.
Shortly before the interval, Zetterström was beaten once more. Again the goal came from a defender, with the onrushing Wöber applying the final touch inside the six-yard box after Dan James failed to properly connect with Aaronson’s cross.
Wöber had begun on the substitutes’ bench but after replacing the hamstrung Junior Firpo at left-back the Austrian had, like Rodon, broken his scoring duck as Leeds headed for the divisional summit.
With Sheffield United at West Brom on Sunday they may not stay there long but few observers would bet against them securing automatic promotion.
“I’m not surprised we lost,” said Paul Warne, Derby’s manager. “It has to be massive congratulations to Leeds. They made it tough, they showed why they’re one of the top teams in this league. That’s the most uncomfortable I’ve felt on the side of the pitch all season.
“Leeds are going to be right up there. Even our fastest players couldn’t get past them. They stopped everything we tried. They’re a very good team, very well coached and very well motivated.”
Walsall leap-frogged Port Vale to the top of after a hard-fought 1-0 win at Vale Park.
Saddlers skipper Jamille Matt's sixth goal of the season early in the second half was decisive as the Saddlers extended their unbeaten league run to nine matches and moved two points clear of the Valiants with a game in hand.
Doncaster, who remain third, twice came back from behind in a 2-2 home draw against Cheltenham as goals from George Broadbent and Luke Molyneux cancelled out Owen Bailey's own goal and Ethon Archer's effort.
Promotion-chasing Crewe were also held at home, 1-1 by 10-man Bradford.
Omar Bogle struck for Crewe early in the second half before Alex Pattison saw red shortly after he had equalised for the visitors.
Grimsby made it back-to-back wins to maintain their promotion challenge with a 3-0 victory at Morecambe thanks to Justin Obikwu's double and Danny Rose's late strike.
AFC Wimbledon stayed one point behind Grimsby in sixth spot after a 3-0 win at Harrogate, where Josh Kelly, John-Joe O'Toole and Matty Stevens were all on target.
Goals from Ryan Colclough, Armando Dobra and Kane Drummond sealed Chesterfield a 3-0 home win against Tranmere and Jayden Clarke's effort clinched Gillingham a 1-0 home win against Salford.
Swindon secured their first league win in eight games, 3-1 at home against Fleetwood, and Idris Odutayo's second-half free-kick secured Bromley a 2-1 win at Accrington.
The matches at Barrow, Newport and Notts County were all postponed.
Although Zetterström made decent second-half saves to kill the danger from a James volley and a Tanaka shot, Leeds could not quite capitalise on Derby’s deficiencies.
While Tanaka, who largely dictated central midfield, is proving an extremely clever summer signing from Fortuna Düsseldorf, staying in the top two may require some attacking reinforcement in January.
