The Marcelo Bielsa revolution continues apace at Leeds, who returned to the top of the Championship thanks to this emphatic win. Mateusz Klich and Ezgjan Alioski struck a quickfire salvo in the first half before Pablo Hernández scored midway through the second. Leeds have taken 13 points from the 15 available since the enthronement of Bielsa, who is fuelling hopes of a return to the top flight from which Leeds have been estranged since 2004.
With 41 matches to go in the regular season no one is counting chickens even if Leeds fans crowed about their supremacy here. That is part of the fun of supporting a team that is making progress after years of thwarted ambition. Norwich fans also have lofty aims but spirits are not high at Carrow Road, where the home fans reacted to this defeat with boos.
Yet Norwich began brightly and for 20 minutes Leeds looked flat. Maybe Carrow Road’s pink away dressing room was to blame but even Norwich’s manager, Daniel Farke, did not think so. “I’m not such a believer in that,” he said, explaining the highly publicised decor was chosen by others at the club.
It is more likely that Leeds were subdued by the vigour of the hosts, who try to practise a style not a million miles from the one Bielsa is cultivating at Leeds. Norwich looked physically stronger than the visitors early on but also sharper and they cut through several times, especially down the right, where Ivo Pinto made regular incursions.
Pinto gave Teemu Pukki a wonderful chance in the 13th minute but Pontus Jansson rescued the visitors, marking his first league start of the campaign with a fine sliding tackle to deflect Pukki’s effort wide.
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Under Bielsa Leeds aim to pass and run with mechanical precision and human ingenuity. It is a beautiful idea but difficult to execute, as the slightest imprecision makes moves collapse.
But in the 21st minute they clicked. Hernández clipped a dainty pass over to Alioski, whose plunging header was parried by Tim Krul. The rebound fell to Klich, who stroked into the net from 15 yards for his third goal in five league games this season after being packed off to Utrecht on loan last season.
Confidence made Leeds’ timing slicker. They scored again within five minutes following another intricate passing sequence. Kemar Roofe and Barry Douglas were involved before Alioski thrashed a shot past Krul from an angle that the goalkeeper should have ensured was impossible.
Norwich would have halved the deficit before the break if not for blocks by Kalvan Phillips, first from Pukki and then from a header by Timm Klose. Phillips was substituted after 27 minutes against Swansea on Tuesday and his performance here was an admirable response to that embarrassment.
Leeds controlled the second half, Norwich not hinting at a comeback. Hernández made the outcome certain in the 67th minute by curling a low shot past Krul from the corner of the box. The Spaniard hobbled off towards the end but his manager did not know whether he was seriously injured. He hoped not because the 33-year-old’s performance made him purr.
“He can make me a better head coach,” Bielsa said. “Because I see solutions he is finding and decisions he is taking that I have seen only very few times in my career. His style is not something that awakes in the rival the desire to neutralise him. But he always intervenes and make actions more fluid.
“He has an influence in very small spaces. He makes the play of his teammates easier. He’s really a player who improves his teammates. He is a real silent leader. He always takes responsibility for the difficult things and makes it easier for his teammates to play. And he does all this without saying a word.”
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