As with all the best dramas, the opening Elland Road offering kicked off with a thoroughly deceptive red herring.
The Championship attracted the second biggest live crowds of any division in Europe last season and, on this compelling evidence, it is all too easy to understand why.
If this blink and you’ll miss it 98 minutes of oscillating emotions and full on entertainment is anything to go by, England’s second tier will surely remain ahead of the Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A and behind only the Premier League in the attendance charts.
MK Dons v Bradford, Doncaster v Accrington, and more: Football League – live Read more As with all the best dramas, the opening Elland Road offering kicked off with a thoroughly deceptive red herring.
By the time an elegant swipe of Pascal Struijk’s left foot had sent Will Norris the wrong way from the penalty spot, Leeds had already hit the crossbar three times. Given that only nine minutes were on the clock when Struijk opened the scoring in the wake of Connor Ogilvie’s felling of Dan James, it is safe to say Portsmouth were well and truly on the ropes.
This trip to West Yorkshire marked the newly-promoted visitors’ return to the second tier for the first time since 2012. As Wilfried Gnonto, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev all saw decent efforts strike the bar in the space of a manic 90 seconds, those travelling fans who had departed the south coast before dawn harboured reason to reflect on the old adage about being careful what you wish for.
Leeds had yearned to be preparing for a Premier League season now but May’s narrow playoff final defeat to Southampton ensured they remain in the second tier. Daniel Farke’s side initially looked in very decent shape but their pre kick-off status as nailed on automatic promotion favourites started seeming slightly optimistic when Marlon Pack’s clever pass prefaced Illan Meslier touching but failing to hold Elias Sørensen’s crisp, well calibrated shot. If the Leeds goalkeeper looked a little unhappy with himself, Portsmouth’s new found confidence was almost palpable.
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