Leeds United              0​

Manchester United   0

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I enjoyed that game! It might have been goalless and at times Manchester United were dominant on the ball, but Leeds showed real grit and determination in a game that was lacking any real quality.

That determination also means that this run of consecutive games against both Manchester clubs and Liverpool, once seen as a tricky set of fixtures, has ended with Leeds unbeaten and taking five points, it is another sign of just how Leeds are growing into their Premier League status and that we are now able to mix it with the big boys.

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For all the fact that real big chances were few and far between in this one, it could have been very different had the referee and VAR understood exactly what Luke Shaw was doing in the 19th minute when he leaned his left arm into the ball to ensure it didn’t run onto the unmarked Luke Ayling waiting unmarked behind him. It is blatant cheating and this is what VAR is intended to stop. If we can’t pick out intentional cheating then I can’t see the point in VAR.

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Other than that though, most observers would probably agree that Manchester United just had that little bit of extra individual quality than we did which determined that they held the ball better than we did and fashioned a few more attempts albeit no real big chances. That meant it was our defensive credentials that were tested more than our attacking ones and, to be fair, we stood the test well. I was nervous each time we conceded a corner and each time Sky put that bloody graphic on the screen showing how we had conceded more goals than anyone else from corners, but today we seemed to know what we were doing. A couple were headed away strongly while a couple more were easily taken in the air by Illan Meslier. Maybe, just maybe, we have put that issue behind us!

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So, back above Arsenal we go into 9th place in the table and we are only seven points or less behind the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham; it has been a sensational start to our new Premier League era and results like those we’ve seen over the last three weeks, and the knowledge that we will strengthen again in the summer, means that we can all look forward to another terrific season next time and one that hopefully we’ll be able to watch from the stands.

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