Cooper captained the Whites for the 100th time and made his 150th appearance in the Championship win at Bristol City.
Leeds United were under pressure to deliver on Saturday afternoon following wins for their Championship title rivals in the weekend’s earlier kickoffs, and the outcome was a 1-0 win over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
On Friday, Norwich City went five points ahead at the top of the table thanks to a 1-0 win over Swansea City, while Sheffield United had beaten Rotherham United 2-0 in the lunchtime kickoff at Bramall Lane.
This meant Leeds kicked off in third place, but Patrick Bamford edged the Whites ahead in the ninth minute, slotting home Luke Ayling’s knockdown from close range for his fourth goal in as many games.
Bamford’s goal turned out to be the winner, and though Leeds were good value for victory, the Robins applied pressure in the late stages of the match and gave the visiting fans a nervy finish to proceedings
Nevertheless, Leeds defended solidly and duly held on for all three points, which put them back up to second and two points behind the Canaries with just 10 games left of the regular season.
The game was special for captain Liam Cooper, making his 150th appearance for Leeds and becoming only the 12th player to wear the team’s armband 100 times, and at full time he sent a Twitter message paying tribute to the club and supporters:
Teammate Pontus Jansson sent a reply, while plenty of fans also responded on the social media platform:
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