Leeds United secured a vital 4-2 win over 10-man Wolves in a chaotic Premier League encounter, moving five places up the table and two points clear of the relegation zone. The match, played a year to the day since Leeds' dramatic comeback at Molineux, saw three goals, a stunning 40-yard volley, and two red cards.
Jack Harrison opened the scoring for Leeds after being set up by Wilfried Gnonto. Luke Ayling doubled the lead with a header from Marc Roca's corner, and Rasmus Kristensen made it 3-0 from a tight angle after capitalising on Jonny Otto's indecision. Wolves fought back with a 40-yard volley from Jonny and a deflected goal from Matheus Cunha, but Rodrigo sealed the win in the seventh minute of stoppage time, chipping the ball over José Sá.
The goal was initially checked by VAR for a shirt pull by Adama Traoré but was allowed to stand. Matheus Nunes, an unused substitute, was shown a straight red card for his reaction to the decision. Jonny was also sent off six minutes from time for a studs-up challenge on Ayling.
Leeds manager Javi Gracia described the match as feeling like a cup tie and emphasised the importance of treating every remaining game as a final. “All the games are important for me. At this stage of the season, the points are really important and we need them. Now there are 11 games and all the games are a final now,” he said.
Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui expressed frustration over a first-half penalty claim when Junior Firpo appeared to trip Nelson Semedo, which was not awarded. “I don’t understand how the referee doesn’t call the foul. Maybe when you have the same mistakes a lot of times against you, it’s not balanced,” he said.
