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EPL Premier League Drama Leeds United players and staff celebrate their 2-1 win over Manchester United Michael Regan/Getty Images For any Leeds United supporter born after the mid-1970s, the club’s rivalry with Manchester United has been a largely miserable experience, save for a couple of years in the early 1990s. For 45 years, they would go to school or work in the aftermath of a league game and suffer. If their club was not languishing in a lower division, annual trips to Old Trafford were becoming a formality. Even across those two blissful seasons of superior league finishes between 1990 and 1992, Leeds fans did not celebrate wins in M16. Advertisement Since February 1981, Leeds had visited 18 times in the league and never once brought three points back to Elland Road. The club has never visited any away ground in the country more frequently without registering a league win. Bragging rights were something Leeds fans had long since learned to shield themselves from. It’s always the hope which kills you as a football fan. And yet, this Leeds team is making a habit of rewriting scripts, resetting expectations and rediscovering hope. Eight days on from ending a 39-year wait to reach an FA Cup semi-final, Daniel Farke’s side were ending that aforementioned 45-year stretch, with one of the best hours of football in their campaign. Across the final few minutes before Casemiro eventually scored for the hosts, confidence in the away corner peaked. Leeds fans were chanting “ole! ”, the ultimate mark of a team in control, for every pass in an unbroken 21-attempt sequence. This was all so far from the pre-match expectations for Leeds. The hosts had lost once in 14 Premier League games and won their last five home matches. Leeds had won just one of their 15 away league games in 2025-26. Farke’s tactical setup flew in the face of those statistics and weight of history. There was confidence inside the club and a desire to be on the front foot. Even if one of the club’s board members had predicted a 2-1 win in an executive meeting earlier on Monday, this was a shock at Old Trafford. Leeds did not sit deeply in a 5-4-1 shape and ask Michael Carrick’s team to break them down, as had been expected. On the contrary, they stepped up, kept a high defensive line, pressed the hosts, and took risks with the ball. And they were brilliant at it. For at least an hour, Manchester United could barely lay a glove on Leeds, who should have been 4-0 to the good at half-time, but left the home side alive in the game at 2-0. The tone was set inside three minutes by Gabriel Gudmundsson’s low cross and Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s saved stabbed effort at goal. Advertisement Noah Okafor and Gudmundsson, two of the players Farke feared might not be fit enough to play, were consistently dangerous outlets off the left flank. The former, who’s had a stop-start season with injury, had by far his most impactful appearance of the campaign. Calvert-Lewin battled with the centre-backs while Okafor and Brenden Aaronson were patient but hard-working in deciding when to press alongside him. Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle, the width in this 3-4-2-1 shape, always seemed to be open as passing options off the flanks, running at defenders, going past them and crossing into the area. Inside them, Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu bossed the match. They were aggressive and pushed high onto Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte when the hosts passed around the Leeds front line. Tanaka’s chance to make it 3-0 in the 45th minute was a perfect example of how high the Japan midfielder was willing to push on. There were so many times Leeds benefited from the hosts’ midfielders turning the ball over between 30 and 40 yards from the home goal. The home fans were audibly frustrated when their team failed to get out of their own third, boxed in by Ampadu and Tanaka. This was Tanaka’s first start in the league since December 14. There was no doubt his performance in the FA Cup win away to West Ham United had justified his selection, but it would have been no surprise to see Farke turn to Ilia Gruev, the more defensive, functional option in the engine room. That the manager chose Tanaka was a sign of the system he wanted to play, and it worked. Tanaka’s tenacity, but more his eye for a pass, were so important in unbalancing the hosts and keeping the Leeds boot on the home throat. At the rear, Jaka Bijol battled with his Slovenia compatriot Benjamin Sesko. Apart from a nutmeg early in the second half, which generated a shot at goal, Bijol fared well in this scrap. Advertisement Behind him, Karl Darlow, a virtual spectator in the first half, inevitably saw more action as full time drew closer. The Wales international made several brilliant stops to keep Leeds in the match. It was apt, on such a historic evening, that every Leeds player played their part. They will all be remembered in Leeds history for this win, orchestrated by Farke, who continues to redefine how his tenure will be remembered. “We still work a little bit to get rid of this old narrative: ‘Leeds are falling apart again’, that we always crumble when it really counts, ” Farke told reporters post-match. “It feels like when it really matters, we deliver under pressure. Not just this season but also last season in the crunch time periods. ” Sang to Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, “Leeds are falling apart again” booming from opposition terraces has caused more scars than a Leeds fan wishes to count down the years. The tune was different at Old Trafford this time. The decades of hurt poured out of the Leeds corner: “Hello, hello, United are back! United are back! ” They knew they may not get that chance again in their lifetime if the last 45 years are anything to go by. A newly extended six-point gap to 18th place in the Premier League table has given the surest sign yet that Leeds supporters may be back for another try in 2026-27. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Beren Cross is a football writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. Before joining The Athletic, he reported on Leeds United for Leeds Live. He was born in Doncaster and grew up in Lincoln. Follow Beren on Twitter @Berencross