Leeds Utd 4 (Miley og 32, Bogle 34, DCL 45+1, Okafor 59) ​

Newcastle 1 (Toure 90)

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14th September 2026. English Premier League.

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36,693.

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Blimey! I didn’t expect that to be so easy! I'd pencilled in a draw, with the Toon and Leeds both unbeaten in their first three games. But Leeds were unstoppable in the first half, dominating possession and fashioning 11 goal attempts into just one opening for the visitors. For perhaps the first time this season, we had all our guns firing at the same time – in particular Jayden Bogle and Gabi Gudmundsson marauding down either wing, with Noah Okafor also looking very sharp and full of running. Ao 'Tiger' Tanaka was at his tigerish best, and Ethan Ampadu was a commanding figure patrolling all areas. The defence was largely untroubled but quietly efficient.

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It wasn’t all down to Leeds, though; Newcastle were very poor in the first half, with sloppy passes gifting possession to Leeds on numerous occasions and failing to clear their lines. The only surprise was that it took Leeds half an hour to get on the scoreboard.

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Before that, we’d seen the Newcastle keeper, Lukas Hornicek, make a couple of fine saves to deny Bogle: one from close range and then a volley from the edge of the box that dipped wickedly. Apparently, Hornicek has made more saves than any other Premier League keeper so far this season, which might just put a different shade on their start to the campaign. At the other end, the only mild concern was over James Trafford almost getting caught twice as he dawdled over clearances.

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But then Leeds effectively closed out the game in a 14-minute spell that rocked the Toon to their core. The first was a fine move down the Leeds left, culminating in Noah Okafor bursting forward and into the box before laying the ball off to Ao Tanaka, seemingly unseen by the Toon defence. Ao’s shot was not the best, but a double deflection saw Hornicek finally beaten. Perhaps this was Lady Luck giving us some back after the various moments Chelsea profited from in midweek.

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A second came two minutes later, and it was another mess from the visitors. The ball was played out straight to Jayden Bogle, and he found Anton Stach, who neatly touched it first-time wide to James Justin. From my vantage point on the Kop, it looked like the cross was met by a towering header from DCL to beat Hornicek; it was, but Jayden Bogle was in there challenging too, and the goal was given to JB as the last Leeds player to touch the ball, however slight.

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Still not finished with their first-half onslaught, Hornicek was at it again, first denying Jayden Bogle from close range and then a follow-up effort by DCL, but DCL had the last laugh as Leeds cut through again. DCL latched onto a clever little flick from Tarik Muharemović,  jinked inside a defender and, with another bit of good fortune, as the ball bobbled off the Newcastle man, it fell nicely for DCL to slot into the corner. What a half of football.

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Leeds this season have made a habit of dominating the first hour or so of games, then running out of steam after that. This time, though, as we did at Chelsea this week, we kept it going a while longer and stretched the lead even further early in the second half. An Ethan Ampadu long throw from the left was headed away but straight to Noah Okafor in a very similar manner to one of his goals at Old Trafford last season. Once again, Noah hit the ball first time, and it flew into the net off the inside of the right-hand post.

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Inevitably, Newcastle started to dig in more as Leeds made changes and no doubt started to think about the next challenge on Sunday when Crystal Palace visit Elland Road. Leeds were able to make six substitutions in all owing to Newcastle utilising a concusion sub in the first half. Newcastle dominated the second-half possession to the tune of 57%, much as Leeds did in the first half, but the Toon created very little, and Leeds on the break looked far more dangerous. Dan James came on, and his pace got him through a couple of times but without a decent finish. Then, at the death, Newcastle grabbed a consolation goal as Leeds switched off for perhaps the one time in the game and were punished, as a man was left free on the right, and then we failed to clear the low cross, which was finished at the second time of asking by Toure. That was annoying.

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But it is hard to be critical about much in this performance, and it just provides a bit more evidence that Leeds look as though they will be competitive throughout this campaign. Brighton, Brentford and now Newcastle have all been unable to get the upper hand against us, and they are all decent teams likely to be battling for a top half finish. I haven’t made my mind up about Forest yet, but against them too, Leeds were the better side. Long may it continue!