He may have travelled back Business Class from Australia duty, but Aaron Mooy produced a First Class performance to keep Town flying high at Elland Road.
The 25-year-old Socceroos international not only bossed the contest, but he scored with a high-quality strike to earn Town a four-point lead in the Championship table.
Mooy’s scintillating winner came 10 minutes into the second half – struck cleanly from outside the box to beat Robert Green – and the Manchester City loanee’s first goal in English football will live long in the memory.
That’s certainly true for the vocal contingent of Town fans who made the short journey from the John Smith’s hoping for a repeat of last season’s derby victory in the same arena.
On that occasion it was 4-1, but even though the scoreline was the smallest margin this time, my how those fans roared their support for David Wagner’s heroes and celebrated in style at the end.
While there was very little to write home about in the first half, it was important for Town to show the international break had done nothing to dull their enthusiasm and resolve.
They did that expertly with banks of solid defence when not in possession, and stuck to Wagner’s plan of taking Leeds’ influential Liam Bridcutt out of the game by countering through the busy Jack Payne and Elias Kachunga.
Jonathan Hogg joined Mooy in providing a cool and clinical edge to Town’s possession and it clicked nicely at times with Rajiv van La Parra providing a ready outlet on the left flank.
Town fans at Elland Road:
His pace and trickery kept Luke Ayling occupied and, while Alex Mowatt did his best, Leeds never really found an answer to upsetting Town’s control.
Perhaps the nearest they came was when striker Marcus Antonsson went sprawling in the box under a challenge from the combative Christopher Schindler just before half time.
It was the sort of incident you’ve seen result in a penalty many times, but Premier League official Roger East waved away the loud appeals only moments before having to take out his yellow card to reprimand Mooy, who lunged in on Bridcutt after losing possession.
Despite the booking, Mooy remained at the heart of all Town’s best efforts and, having gone narrowly wide with a shot on the half hour, he made no such mistake when presented with space to line up a shot which Green simply couldn’t get near in the opening stanza of the second half.
While the defence, under Schindler and the solid Mark Hudson, remained focused and strong, Mooy kept hold of the midfield reins to ensure 58% possession for Town.
The Leeds fans voiced their disgust at the substitution of Antonsson on 67 minutes and, while a slip allowed Mowatt a half chance which Danny Ward blocked just two minutes later, that was as good as it got for the home side.
Chris Wood fluffed the two heading half-chances he got in the 90 minutes and Town – keeping successive clean sheets after the 1-0 win over Wolves – kept the defensive door firmly shut.
They were again helped by some astute substitutions from Wagner.
Having left out Nahki Wells and Kasey Palmer in the two changes to his starting line-up, Wagner sent them both on for ‘fresh legs’ the closing stages and was rewarded with determined shows.
After Van La Parra had gone close with a fine long-range effort tipped over by Green, Palmer also fired in a shot and Leeds were never given an opportunity to relax or feel they could ever build any pressure.
Michele Hefele added aerial strength to Town’s late defensive strategy and, with that, Town’s best ever start to a season in their history was never in doubt.
A tremendous victory in front of Leeds’ biggest crowd of the season and, in fairness, Town are looking a very good side.
For Mooy, he was compared by one veteran Leeds United watcher with Bobby Collins and Johnny Giles, who were tremendous influences when they arrived at Elland Road. That’s high praise indeed.
