The Whites’ manager, Daniel Farke, was not pleased with how his side began or concluded the match, but throughout the pivotal period, they were at their most effective offensive as they maintained pressure on the leaders of the Championship.
Leeds, in third position, took advantage of Ipswich’s two-point loss in the midday match to extend their lead to three points, although they are still one point behind Southampton, who are in second place.
Farke, the Whites’ manager, commented, “Another three points, another clean sheet.”
“We anticipated it might have been a close game because Southampton was their heaviest defeat since Christmas—two goals—but we won easily and ought to have won by a larger margin.
“We were outstanding in the middle 70 minutes, but I didn’t enjoy the first 10 minutes when we gave up a penalty after 10 seconds and weren’t on it, or the last 10 minutes when we gave up too many set pieces.
“It was a nice effort, but we should have scored more.
“Rotherham is a team that perseveres, therefore that should have been the outcome in tennis. They don’t give up, and 3-0 makes us pleased.”
Regarding the contentious Bamford first goal, Farke continued, “To be honest, I haven’t seen it again. Someone said it may have been a handball or that Patrick’s arm deflected the ball. It’s impossible for me to judge it.
“You have to admit that if it had been a handball, it certainly shouldn’t have been permitted, but to be truly honest, you usually say that over a season, everything is about equal.
“In addition, I believe that usually it matters if a goal is scored during a game, but today it didn’t matter because we had so many opportunities.
“I believe that even if this circumstance had not been permitted, the result would have been the same and victory would have still occurred. We were simply too strong in the end, so I don’t think that was a pivotal moment.
Aside from giving up a corner that was ineffective right from the kickoff, Leeds dominated the most of the game.
The Millers didn’t score a goal until 80 minutes had passed, and the only surprise was that they didn’t lose by a greater margin.
At four minutes, Georginio Rutter pulled back, giving Bamford his first opportunity, but Viktor Johansson comfortably stopped it due to insufficient power.
But Leeds took the lead in the tenth minute with a goal that could have been fortunate to be awarded. Junior Firpo was passed in down the left, and Bamford, who definitely aimed his arm at the ball, somehow got his cross into the net after it rebounded up off a defender.
The score gave the Whites the confidence to continue dominating, and the complaints from Rotherham went unheeded.
Before Crysencio Summerville, who was excellent overall, lost a fantastic opportunity to double the advantage, Firpo setting him up for a shot in space inside the box, Rutter opened up brilliantly on the outside of the box but fired over.
The visitors’ defense opened up, but Rutter was unable to get past the goalkeeper.
Even though Leeds’ goal was fortunate, they were unlucky to be denied a penalty after Willy Gnonto escaped Sebastian Revan and was taken out by the defender before he could get a hand on the ball.
Before the half, there were still more opportunities, with a nice move stopping an Archie Gray attempt and a well-hit Gnonto shot forcing a wonderful save from Johansson.
After being located in the area, Bamford struck the crossbar to maintain the excellent job at the beginning of the second half of the season. A defender expertly stopped his rebound attempt, and Gnonto missed his third attempt in as many minutes.
On minute 52, Leeds did take a 2-0 lead when Summerville and Rutter exchanged passes well inside the Rotherham half. Summerville then raced into the area and expertly tucked his effort under Johansson.
When Gnonto went down, there was again another loud cry for a penalty, but this time it was dismissed and two minutes later Summerville was given a spot kick for a foul inside the area. Although the home player was dragged back by the defender, who may have had a touch on the ball, Summerville scored a confident “Panenka” from the spot, sending the keeper tumbling the wrong way.
The Whites relaxed off now, but they still had three more good opportunities as Gnonto blasted inches wide and Rutter followed suit after also seeing a header saved. This was the signal to make substitutes in order to rest players in preparation for the next game on Tuesday.
Late in the game, Rotherham finally mustered some effort of their own, forcing Illan Meslier into two stops to deny headers from Hakeem Odoffin and a shot from Sam Clucas. However, since the difference in the table between the teams was evident, they had been greatly outplayed over the majority of the game.