Goals by Dan James, Joel Piroe, and Brenden Aaronson provided the home team a 3-0 halftime lead that was never in doubt after a furious nine-minute first-half period, which was handled by Daniel Farke’s team.
By making five substitutions, including midfield debuts for Charlie Crew, Josuha Guilavogui, and Sam Chambers, the home team was able to control the second half.
After losing to Birmingham as manager on New Year’s Day, which led to his dismissal the following day, Rooney endured a second consecutive 3-0 loss at Elland Road.
Wayne Rooney on Leeds United fan chants
Rooney would undoubtedly be the target of taunts from the home crowd, who were celebrating their team’s easy victory, considering his affiliation with Leeds’ fierce rivals Manchester United.
It turned out to be so, despite Rooney’s insistence in his press conference after the game that he did not hear anything.
He smiled and said, “I didn’t hear anything today,” in accordance with the YEP. “They might be able to sing a little louder.”
It was a poor day for his team, Rooney said, as they ended the day without scoring a single goal.
are an amazing team that is challenging to play against. From our perspective, we’re working to get better. Young guys are coming on, and the big club has a nice vibe. We had a rough day today; let’s move on and focus on Tuesday’s game.
Rooney’s Leeds promotion verdict
Leeds managed to pass Burnley into the automatic promotion spots ahead of the Clarets’ match against Millwall tomorrow, while Plymouth’s loss drops them to 22nd in the Championship standings.
Rooney went on to say that Leeds United would consider this season a “failure” if they did not return to the Premier League.
He went on to say, “They are a very good team.” If you ask their manager, I’m confident that anything else than a promotion will fail. He will be receiving the message.
“They have excellent players and are a solid squad. They will compete for the top two spots.
Before the half, Dan James, Joel Piroe, and Brenden Aaronson all scored goals in the last 30 to 38 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth team was unable to find any solutions with such a lacklustre first half performance, therefore Leeds let up in the second half.
As the Dutchman proved his sceptics wrong with his fifth goal of the league season, goal-scorer Piroe was praised by former Leeds manager Neil Redfearn live on BBC Radio Leeds.
After a thrilling first half, Redfearn was particularly drawn to the underappreciated midfield duo of Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka.
Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka impress for Leeds
Redfearn expressed his admiration for Rothwell and Tanaka’s simplicity in midfield during a live broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds.
“You know, the knowledge of the role, the range of passing, and how they drop into little pockets to receive it,” he remarked. They are performing simple tasks incredibly well.
As Plymouth struggled to connect more than two passes throughout the game, Tanaka and Rothwell saw a lot of the ball.
When Argyle dropped into a low block and allowed the Leeds midfield to control high up the pitch, the two had a particularly significant impact in the first half.
With Tanaka and Rothwell at the heart of it all, Leeds tore apart Plymouth, who weren’t good enough to hold out defensively.
One stat sums up Ao Tanaka’s Leeds display
With an 8.2 FotMob match rating for the game, Tanaka outperformed every other player on the pitch at Elland Road.
Throughout the match, he completed 91% of his passes and put Daniel Grimshaw to the test from a distance with three attempts on goal.
The Japanese midfielder demonstrated his dependability for Daniel Farke’s team by winning five out of six ground duels.
