Key stats
- Leeds have scored in their last 14 games in the Premier League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 16 games in 1995/96
- Leeds have beaten Everton for the first time in the Premier League since November 2020, a run of five games without a win
- Since the start of 2017/18, only Issa Diop (8), Wilfred Ndidi (8) and Matty Cash (7) have conceded more Premier League penalties than James Tarkowski (6) among outfield players
Highlights
Analysis
Match winner Lukas Nmecha and Gabriel Gudmundsson both achieved a Flashscore rating of 8.0 for Leeds against Everton.
Leeds dominated large parts of the game.
Match report
Backed by their vociferous home support, Leeds came flying out of the blocks early on, with Joël Piroe seeing a close-range effort thwarted by Jordan Pickford and Ao Tanaka opting to head the ball across the six-yard box rather than go for goal in a promising position.
The hosts’ high-octane pressing continued to pose plenty of problems for Everton, but despite their dominance, clear-cut openings came at a premium as the Toffees’ rearguard held firm.
Having scored 95 goals en route to the Championship title last season, Daniel Farke’s men looked to up the ante before HT, with Daniel James and Wilfried Gnonto a constant threat on the wings.
However, a distinct lack of cutting edge in the final third continued to prove problematic for the Whites, as Gnonto fired another opportunity narrowly over the bar from outside the box.
The early stages of the second period followed a similar pattern to the first, with Gnonto twice going close to a breakthrough for the hosts.
Having avoided defeat on each of their previous five league visits to Elland Road, Everton turned to new signing Jack Grealish with 20 minutes remaining, as David Moyes’ side went in pursuit of a winning goal against the run of play.
The Toffees threatened when Carlos Alcaraz saw a powerful low effort smartly saved by Lucas Perri, while at the other end, Tanaka blazed wastefully over from 18 yards.
Both sides continued to press forward with time ticking into the final 10 minutes, and Leeds were given a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when Anton Stach’s strike was blocked by the arm of James Tarkowski in the box.
Substitute Nmecha stepped up to the spot and swept the ball into the bottom-right corner beyond Pickford, securing an impressive three points for Farke’s men.
Leeds’ victory marks just the third time in PL history that two of the three promoted sides have won on the opening weekend.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ao Tanaka (Leeds United)
Post-match comments
Leeds forward Lukas Nmecha to Sky Sports: "Amazing three points.
"Normally, it was Joel Piroe (to tke penalties), but thankfully I got to take it. I just put it hard and low. I was pretty confident.
"I hit it quite hard, and it was hard to save. He did go pretty early to be fair.
"I think at home we have amazing fans. I don't think I have felt anything like this before. When we went 1-0 up, we slowed the game down. In the game, I thought we controlled a lot of the game."
Everton boss David Moyes to BBC Sport: "I'm really disappointed and unless you cut the boy's hand off, I don't know where he goes. I don't know if the crowd plays a part in it. They got right behind their team, and they played well and probably deserved the victory in fairness.
"I think it's a really poor decision. VAR had a chance to undo it. They tried to say he was leaning to the ball. Surely you're allowed to lean with your hands by your sides. I think that's a really bad one for us. The referees haven't had a great weekend.
"Leeds came out of the blocks and we expected it. We changed at half-time and we were much better in the second half, and if any team was going to win it, I thought it would be us."