Plymouth Argyle vs Leeds United. Sky Bet Championship.
Home ParkAttendance16,818.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United at Home Park on Saturday | Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter fire Whites back up to second in the table.
Saturday 17 February 2024 16:31, UK
Leeds moved to second in the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win at Plymouth thanks to goals from forwards Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter.
Daniel Farke's side made a flying start and their early pressure was rewarded with a 10th minute goal for in-form Gnonto, taking his goal tally to five in as many games.
Rutter's audacious high ball into the area split the home defence and Gnonto brilliantly brought the ball down and stroked it home past goalkeeper Conor Hazard.
Argyle's best attempt in the opening 25 minutes was a long-range shot which flew over by midweek scorer Mickel Miller, recalled to the starting eleven following his impressive display against Coventry.
Miller was also on hand to stop a lightning break in the 32nd minute as Crysencio Summerville looked to pounce on the counter-attack in a one-on-one break.
Seconds earlier United keeper Ilian Meslier did well to punch Morgan Whittaker's in-swinging corner clear, in a rare Argyle attack.
Rutter came close to putting Leeds 2-0 up in the 38th minute with a first time shot that flew back off the post, with Hazard beaten, after being set up by Joel Piroe.
Piroe did superbly to beat three Argyle players before putting Rutter in on goal.
Miller continued to be a thorn in Leeds' side in the second half and his pacey 52nd minute cross from the left should have been converted by Kiwi striker Ben Waine, as he slid in on the increasingly wet playing surface.
Three minutes later Miller forced a near-post save from Meslier as he let fly with a rising shot from the left.
Waine headed over from Matthew Sorinola's cross from the right after 57 minutes.
Meslier punched Adam Randell's in-swinging corner clear and then was equal to the Plymouth playmaker's cross as he swept the ball back into a crowded six yard box from the wide on the right.
Summerville fired high and wide after making room for himself in the Plymouth penalty area from Rutter's cutback.
Within minutes Rutter was at the centre of the action again.
The striker ran on to Joel Piroe's defence-splitting through ball and beat diving Hazard with a thumping shot on the run into the box, which gave the home keeper little chance on 72 minutes.
Scottish striker Ryan Hardie announced his arrival - as a replacement for Waine - by forcing an acrobatic save from Meslier.
The French keeper made a low save at his near post to keep out 18-goal top scorer Morgan Whittaker's 88th minute free kick from the right.
Leeds came close to making it three in stoppage time as substitute Daniel James' thumping strike smashed off the cross bar.
Plymouth's Ian Foster:
"It perhaps took their goal to settle us down.
"We were disappointed with the first goal and could have done better with the second but overall, like I said, we were pleased because Leeds are such an unbelievably good side.
"I thought we were dominant possession-wise in the second half but we needed to do more with the ball.
"Leeds are devastating in attack and ruthless with their finishing and they showed that today.
"I thought overall in the second half we did well but could not find a way to get the ball in the box.
"Leeds and us have got two different objectives this season."
Leeds' Daniel Farke:
"I am a happy man first of all because no other side since October has managed to come away from here with three points."
"We got a really good start with the goal early on because Plymouth are a good side and hard to beat, especially in home games, so it was a very good opening 10 to 15 minutes for us.
"We stayed focused throughout and scored a really good second goal and I think in the last minute it should have been a penalty and not a free kick so it could have been three.
"So overall I am really pleased with the maturity we showed to win this game."
