Leeds United very much had to work for their 4-3 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside last night.
Boro’s season may have been over heading into the fixture but they showed no signs of wanting to give Leeds an easy ride as they fought right until the very last kick of the game.
Leeds knew that nothing other than a win was enough to keep their hopes of automatic promotion alive and got off to the worst possible start after Isaiah Jones’ early opener.
However, Leeds responded quickly and turned the game right on its head thanks to quickfire Crysencio Summerville and Patrick Bamford goals, before Emmanuel Latte Lath’s equaliser.
Willy Gnonto then put Leeds back in front after practically ‘begging’ for Summerville to play him through on goal, before the Dutchman then notched his second of the night after half-time.
Boro refused to allow Leeds an easy ride, though, as Latte Lath headed in his second to set up an extremely nervy finale, which Daniel Farke’s side were able to see through.
BBC pundit Jon Newsome says Leeds ace was shattered at full-time
With Connor Roberts out injured, Farke actually opted to name Sam Byram at right-back for the first time since Leeds’ last victory against Hull City earlier this month.
That meant Glen Kamara was once again a substitute, with Archie Gray playing in midfield for the second successive match. In the eyes of many, including great uncle Eddie, that is his best position.
Particularly in the first half, Leeds were extremely open and so that led to a number of counter-attacking opportunities for both teams. Gray was involved in plenty of them, with his driving run playing a key role in Gnonto’s goal.
With Ilia Gruev very much the defensive one of that midfield pairing, Gray was tasked with getting box-to-box, a role which clearly took it out of him as pundit Jon Newsome shared on BBC Radio Leeds just how tired he was at full-time.
He said: “Watching Archie Gray walks off here, he has thrown his shirt into the crowd as he does most games, and he is walking off absolutely spent. He has not got an ounce of energy left in his body. He has left it all out on the line. Outstanding, Absolutely outstanding.”
Gray impresses in midfield, but could improve in possession
As mentioned, some of Gray’s driving runs from midfield played a key role in Leeds’ victory last night. Unlike the other available midfield options, he is the one that has it in his locker.
However, Gray certainly still has some room for improvement in possession. As per Sofa Score, he had a pass success rate of just 71.4 per cent, which could and should be a lot higher for a midfielder.
He lost the ball a couple of times in key areas towards the end of the game, but based on what Newsome said, that was probably down to tiredness.
With all that said, the more he continues to play in his best position, the more he will improve those aspects of his game.