Sammie Szmodics sent a dagger through the heart of Leeds United with his winning goal for Blackburn Rovers last weekend.
Szmodics inflicted Leeds‘ first home defeat of the season as Blackburn’s smash and grab tactics worked to a tee, coming away from Elland Road with a shock 1-0 win.
Pundits such as David Prutton had Leeds down for a comfortable victory over Rovers but it just did not plan out that way, with Daniel Farke’s side again struggling to break down a deep defence.
Szmodics’ goal actually dealt Leeds a huge blow in their push for automatic promotion, with destiny now very much out of their hands in the final two weeks of the season.
LeedsUnited.newspredictedthe Whites will effectively need seven points from their last three matches to stand a chance of promotion, which will be a tough ask on recent form.
Blackburn’s Szmodics now shares what he thinks about Leeds
Szmodics actually had a couple of battles with Leeds players last weekend, as he was also up against Crysencio Summerville, as well as Leicester City’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, for the Championship POTS.
Unlike at Elland Road, it was Leeds who came out on top this time, as Summerville’s return of 17 goals and eight assists from the wing was enough to win the crown.
Summerville and Leeds would’ve undoubtedly traded that award for three points 24 hours earlier, and on the latest episode of the Official EFL Podcast, Szmodics has been asked just how Blackburn managed the win.
The 28-year-old was quick to praise Summerville and the rest of the Leeds side, labelling them as ‘one of the best’ they have faced, but believes their game plan worked to a tee.
He said: “We obviously knew all the chat was going to be about Leeds, they have had a fantastic season. Summerville winning the player of the season, I think three of them were in the team of the season and there’s no surprises there.
“They are probably one of the best teams we have played this season but we went there with no pressure, no one was expecting us to go and win. Ourselves we weren’t expecting to win the game, maybe hold out and get a point.
“The manager drilled into us all week about why we can’t go there and cause an upset. They needed a win as bad as we did and the game plan worked down to a tee.”
Leeds could’ve done with Szmodics killer instinct last week
Leeds came up against two sides in back-to-back home matches last week who were happy to sit back and defend.
Both Sunderland and Blackburn spent much of their encounters with Leeds camped on the edge of their own box, restricting the home side to very little in the way of clear-cut chances.
On the rare occasion Leeds did manage to create an opportunity, there was no one in the side clinical enough to go and put the ball in the net.
Leeds could’ve done with the Championship top scorer Szmodics’ killer instinct in front of goal, as he showed for his late winner.