First-half onslaught powers Leeds into the Championship play-off ultimate

Leeds are on their way to Wembley, they sang on the streets outside Elland Road last night, and how emphatically that pre-match promise was fulfilled.

Nights at this raucous old venue can often be fraught and filled with angst but how different this proved to be. A white blizzard buried Norwich under a goals avalanche and now Leeds will go back to the national stadium for the first time since 2008.

You could not help but feel they really should have automatically returned to the top flight rather than subjecting themselves to the jeopardy of the play-offs. This, though, is how it must be and how they rose to the challenge.

The biggest compliment you could pay Leeds was that they looked like a Premier League side as they ripped Norwich apart. West Brom or Southampton await on May 26 and neither will feel comfortable about trying to subdue Daniel Farke’s men.

‘Almost the perfect night,’ Farke said. ‘We scored four and could have had many more. You can’t plan success, but we have a great chance to create another chapter of history at this amazing club.

‘If you’d told me this in September, I wouldn’t have been sure we could do it. Now we go for it.’

The last time Leeds were on the cusp of promotion, during those bleak pandemic days four years ago, they relied on 12 people in the directors’ box to generate an atmosphere. There would be no such problem this time, with every seat taken, every voice raised and every arm twirling a scarf.

What an occasion the home fans made it and how their team responded. You sometimes wonder in a stadium as emotional as Elland Road whether the occasion will be too much for the players, but that was not the case.

As Leeds went into overdrive, Norwich melted. The onslaught began in the seventh minute. There did not seem to be much danger when Leeds were awarded a free-kick 30 yards out but Ilia Gruev, their Bulgarian midfielder, saw things differently and caught keeper Angus Gunn unawares.

As his shot crept inside the post, the ball hitting the back of the net was like a detonator had been pressed. Boom! An explosion of noise, a sea of jubilation.

Such was the mania, it felt as if this was a golden goal. Would Leeds let this slip? No chance. Soon, their lead was doubled. Willy Gnonto dashed down the right and looped a cross to the back post, leaving Gunn unsure whether to stick or twist. Joel Piroe arrived and headed in.

Perhaps the situation would have changed had Norwich provided an immediate reply but, in the 22nd minute, Josh Sargent could not provide a finish when Ashley Barnes sent him through. He tried to chip Illan Meslier but the keeper stood tall and saved.

How crucial it proved to be. Norwich boss David Wagner tried to lift his players, imploring them to stand firm, but the dam burst before half-time and, effectively, left them submerged. Leeds broke down the left, Piroe clipped a ball into Crysencio Summerville and he helped it on to Georginio Rutter. His finish was emphatic, crashing in off the underside of the bar.

All Leeds had to do from here was manage the situation, retain their discipline, and the first part of the mission — reaching Wembley — was done.

The outstanding Summerville put the gloss on things, ramming home from 10 yards after good work by Junior Firpo.

‘Everything you should not do, we did,’ Wagner lamented. ‘We were second best everywhere.’

Back Leeds go to Wembley. The last time they won there, Eric Cantona hit a hat-trick in the 1992 Charity Shield against Liverpool.

‘Let’s see if we can be legends,’ added Farke.