Leeds United claimed a big three points this afternoon as they battled their way to a 1-0 win over Burnley.
The Whites had the lead early on as Nick Pope brought down Patrick Bamford, with the Leeds striker stepping up to score from the spot.
Leeds did somewhat escape as an Ashley Barnes equaliser was disallowed for an alleged foul on Illan Meslier, though it did seem a strange decision.
Burnley pushed and pushed for a leveller in the second half, but it didn’t arrive as Leeds saw the game out and claimed a narrow win.
Having been criticised for being too open at the back in the 6-2 defeat to Manchester United last week, Leeds hit back with a valuable clean sheet – and Pascal Struijk can be proud of his showing.
With Liam Cooper out of action and Diego Llorente suffering a setback, Struijk started the game as Leeds’ left-sided centre back.
Struijk, 21, turned in a superb showing at the back, with his 6ft 3in frame certainly helping Leeds deal with the aerial threat of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes in the Burnley attack.
Leeds fans took to Twitter to hail the Dutch ace, branding him ‘superb’ and ‘class’, standing tall against experienced Premier League attackers.
Others now want Struijk to start ahead of Liam Cooper moving forward, believing that he deserves to keep his place and start every week in future.
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